In Memoriam of Professor Alexander Adum Kwapong

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• Kwadwo 11 years ago

  Professor Kwapong was gem of an intellect. Thanks for your beautiful tribute. He will be missed.

  Professor Kwapong was gem of an intellect. Thanks for your beautiful tribute. He will be missed.

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• Ben 11 years ago

  He Tamasco and Ghanasco

  He Tamasco and Ghanasco

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• francis kwarteng 11 years ago

  Brother Kwesi,
  
  This beautiful piece could only come from you. Just beautiful.
  
  Thanks.

  Brother Kwesi,
  
  This beautiful piece could only come from you. Just beautiful.
  
  Thanks.

  reply
• Kwesi Atta Sakyi 11 years ago

  Well,well,well. The man played his part. We must continue from where he left off. Thanks Francis Kwarteng for your rejoinder.

  Well,well,well. The man played his part. We must continue from where he left off. Thanks Francis Kwarteng for your rejoinder.

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• DusTY-FooT-pHiloSophER 11 years ago

  Yes, it is really a nice tribute to him and impeccably to his name in Memoriam. Thanks for honouring one of our passing great(s) and may his soul rest in perfect peace in the bosom of our dear Almighty's, amen.

  Yes, it is really a nice tribute to him and impeccably to his name in Memoriam. Thanks for honouring one of our passing great(s) and may his soul rest in perfect peace in the bosom of our dear Almighty's, amen.

  reply
• Kwesi 11 years ago

  Mahama only attended Achimota primary school,does that count

  Mahama only attended Achimota primary school,does that count

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• Kweku 11 years ago

  Thanks for a good, simple and short tribute, Kwesi Atta Sakyi. No need to write anything lengthy for such a well known and respected figure. A few points, though
  
  1. I think University of Ghana was a university college in 1 ...
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  Thanks for a good, simple and short tribute, Kwesi Atta Sakyi. No need to write anything lengthy for such a well known and respected figure. A few points, though
  
  1. I think University of Ghana was a university college in 1953 when Kwapong may have started lecturing there.
  
  2. He became a professor and VC at a tender age not so much because he was brilliant (which he was) but because those were days when there were fewer highly qualified Ghanaians in academia. When he finished Cambridge in 1951, there were only a handful of Gold Coasters with university education. Nkrumah's accelerated program of education was aimed to correct such things.
  
  Today, it will be relatively difficult for a 39 old to become VC of our premier university. The competition is tougher. Kwesi, your own classmate - Ernest Aryeetey (alias Blackman), who is now the current VC of Legon, got to that post only in his 50s.
  
  This is not to diminish the achievements of the late Prof but to put it in some perspective.
  
  Kwesi, when you entered Legon in 1975, Prof Kwapong was just about handing over the VC post to Prof Adjei-Bekoe. I am not sure if it was Prof Kwapong who matriculated you (if you did attend that ceremony in your acapompo). But he was very well respected by the student body and there was some sort of disappointment that he was no longer going to be VC. But that post was a fixed term one and he couldn't occupy it for too long.
  
  His post at the UN University was one that Ghanaians, in typical fashion, made a lot of noise about. The UN University was then newly established but I think his post as the VC of Legon was more demanding and probably more prestigious(?) even if it may have paid less. When Kwapong left Ghana for that post, things had started getting bad economically and Ghanaians had started queuing for "essential commodities". One such spot for queuing was the University GNTC behind the park at Mensah Sarbah Annex 2 (Okponglo) where the present VC had his room.
  
  I wish you had told us a bit more about Prof Kwapong's time as VC in Legon. Many things happened during his long tenure. He took over in the year Nkrumah was overthrown. Legon during Nkrumah's time was very politicized with CPP cells on campus. It would have been nice to know how Prof Kwapong superintended the period of the de-politicization of the university. If my memory serves me right, he was also the VC when the Sudanese student was caught in a cross fire and killed during a demonstration at the university.
  
  But I guess those details will be left for his biographer.
  
  Prof Kwapong lived a long and very fruitful life. At 87, we can only say he has gone home having successfully fulfilled his life's mission. Not many human beings can boast of what he did with those 87 years. We are thankful for his life.
  
  Too bad Paa Kwesi Minta is not here to add to these comments...

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• Kwesi Atta Sakyi 11 years ago

  Thanks Kweku for your discourse and illumination. Many points in your rejoinder are apt. I remember Okponglo, Legon GNTC essnco, Battle of the gate, anniversary of the Sudanese' tragic death, Abdussalam Muhammed Abbas, Andrew ...
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  Thanks Kweku for your discourse and illumination. Many points in your rejoinder are apt. I remember Okponglo, Legon GNTC essnco, Battle of the gate, anniversary of the Sudanese' tragic death, Abdussalam Muhammed Abbas, Andrew Young's visit and the rupturous demo, Oduro Kwarteng, Amilcar Cabral, Kamassan, Kwesi Adu and all the raft of student leaders. Kwapong once rebuked and retorted aluta students with the profane words, 'Wo showa'. When a gentle giant is forced against the wall, he may pounce and bite.

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• Joe Mensah 11 years ago

  Thanks for the tribute for this great man.However,I want to make one correction.Professor W.E. Abraham also known as Kojo Abraham of the Philosophy Department and the author of the book THE MIND OF AFRICA was the Pro-vice Ch ...
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  Thanks for the tribute for this great man.However,I want to make one correction.Professor W.E. Abraham also known as Kojo Abraham of the Philosophy Department and the author of the book THE MIND OF AFRICA was the Pro-vice Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana when the Irish Conor O'Brien left.Professor Abraham was relieved of his position in 1966 for political reasons.He later left Ghana and lectured in universities in United States.

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• Odurose 11 years ago

  Kwesi Atta,
  
  Without seeking to detract from your fine eloge to Professor Kwapong, may I, at the risk of sounding pedantic, enter a minor correction. Professor Kwapong was at King's College Cambridge and not at Trinity. On ...
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  Kwesi Atta,
  
  Without seeking to detract from your fine eloge to Professor Kwapong, may I, at the risk of sounding pedantic, enter a minor correction. Professor Kwapong was at King's College Cambridge and not at Trinity. One should correct this because it would be doing a King's man a disservice by attributing him to Trinity.
  
  There is also the minor point about the "wo showa" incident. Those vulgar words were never uttered by Professor Kwapong! Rather it was at one of the student demonstrations in 1964-1966 that a student shouted "Kwapong, wo showa" at which the good Professor was taken aback and blushed. Conor Cruise O'Brien who was the Vice Chancellor could not understand why Prof Kwapong was visibly shocked and asked why. To which Professor Kwapong good naturedly replied that the students were making references to his anatomical parts. This still left O'Brien bemused and in titters.
  
  Yes, Prof Kwapong was much loved and respected by generations of students at the University of Ghana, Legon and we shall sorely miss him. The University should surely honour his memory by naming something on the campus after him.

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• ADEPA NANA 11 years ago

  WHEN WILL NDC PEOPLE AND THEIR GUTTER JOURNALIST TELL THE TRUTH? WHEN DID MAHAMA BECOME AKORAA? IF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AKORAAS, DON'T ADD ACADAMIC DWARFS LIKE JJ RAWLINGS, HE IS NOT A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR KIDS TO LEARN FROM ACA ...
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  WHEN WILL NDC PEOPLE AND THEIR GUTTER JOURNALIST TELL THE TRUTH? WHEN DID MAHAMA BECOME AKORAA? IF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AKORAAS, DON'T ADD ACADAMIC DWARFS LIKE JJ RAWLINGS, HE IS NOT A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR KIDS TO LEARN FROM ACADEMICALLY.
  WHERE DOES KWABENA OSEI aka PROF AA KWAPONG COME FROM? ASIDE, THIS ITS A GOOD PIECE. MAY THE SOUL OF KWABENA SEI(OSEI)REST IN PERFECT PEACE.

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