‘I was scared’ – Retired diplomat on how Kwame Nkrumah recruited him into Foreign Service

Retired Ghanaian diplomat, Ambassador Alex Ntim Abankwa, has recounted how he was recruited into Ghana’s Foreign Service under the government of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, while serving as a soil science officer at Nyankpala.

In a video sighted by GhanaWeb, he said he was surprised when he received a message through the police asking him to report to Accra, as he had no idea why the authorities wanted to see him.

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“I was scared because I didn’t know why they picked me,” he said.

Ambassador Abankwa explained that he was among the first group of university graduates selected to join the Foreign Service in 1959 and 1960.

He said that, at the time, many university graduates were expected to teach after completing their studies because the government needed teachers for the trust schools established across the country.

He, however, did not take up a teaching job because he was selected for diplomatic service.

“I was a soil science officer at Nyankpala, and I got a message from Accra to say that I should report at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I didn’t know about it,” he recounted.

Unsure why he had been summoned, he said he first approached his brother-in-law, who was the District Commissioner (DC) in Tamale, for an explanation. However, his brother-in-law said he knew nothing about the matter.

He then travelled to Accra and consulted his uncle who also had no information about the invitation.

Ambassador Abankwa said he went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the following day and was informed that the ministry needed a scientist to help prepare for scientific conferences.

He was subsequently selected for the role, beginning a diplomatic career that took him to India, the Soviet Union, Ethiopia and the United States.

“Then, within two weeks, I was told to prepare to go to India, and so I was sent to India as a cadet to work in the Indian Foreign Service, and I stayed there for about one year,” he said.

After returning to Ghana, he stated that he worked at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Accra before being sent to the Soviet Union, now Russia, for further training.

He later returned to Accra and, after about a year, was posted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before moving to Washington, DC, in the United States.

He said he travelled to Washington with his family in 1965 and remained there until 1966, when a military coup overthrew President Nkrumah.

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The coup brought an end to his posting in the United States and affected his role in the Foreign Service when he returned to Ghana.

“After I came back, because of my special training in Russia and India and all those things, I was transferred from the Foreign Service to the Home Service. You know what happens after coups,” he added.

Watch the video below:

MAG/VPO

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