US-based Ghanaian professor shot dead

A Ghanaian lecturer based in the United States, Dr Kofi Akamani, has died after sustaining gunshot wounds in Illinois.

Authorities in Jackson County (JCSO) said they received a report of a shooting around 5 p.m. on September 19, 2026, in the area of Lake Road, between Murphysboro and Carbondale, Illinois.

Authorities who responded to the scene identified the victim as 48-year-old Kofi Akamani. He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale for medical attention but was later pronounced dead.

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale community has also been affected by the incident, with Dr Akamani having served as a professor in the university’s Department of Forestry. His academic work included teaching forest recreation and conservation social science.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the shooting led to the arrest of Akamani’s 35-year-old wife, Betty Akamani.

She has been charged in connection with the incident, although authorities have not released further details about the allegations against her as investigations continue.

Wife arrested after Ghanaian professor Kofi Akamani is shot dead in US

Several agencies, including the Jackson County Ambulance Service, Jackson County Coroner’s Office and Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office, supported the sheriff’s office in the investigation.

Authorities have indicated that the case remains under investigation and that no additional information will be made public for now.

Dr Akamani’s academic journey

Before building his academic career in the United States, Dr Akamani began his university education in Ghana at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Development Planning, with a specialisation in Urban Planning.

Although he had planned to continue his education in Urban Planning, he was encouraged to consider sustainable development as an emerging area with greater relevance to the future of planning.

That advice led him to the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) at the University of Oslo in Norway, where he completed a Master of Philosophy degree in 2006.

He subsequently moved to the United States and earned a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho.

As part of his doctoral research, Dr Akamani returned to Ghana for six months to examine how collaborative forest management affected the social and ecological resilience of two communities in the Ashanti Region that depended heavily on forest resources.

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