“Akuapem is always the best when it comes to human resources. We don’t produce natural resources but we produce human resources,” those were the words of Acting Krontihene of Akuapem, Nana Addo Kwataa who was speaking to GhanaWeb on the People & Places show.
His response was to a question about what resources could be identified with the people of Akuapem, in the history-laden episode of the show on GhanaWeb TV.
Nana Addo Kwataa was emphatic in his submissions. Names like those of Professor A. A. Kapong (First Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana), Nana Wereko Ampem Oyeeman II (former government statistician in Ghana), and Dr. Oku Ampofo (first Ghanaian native doctor) were highlighted by him as some of Akuapem’s most priced human resources.
“Oyeeman Wereko Ampem II, the first Ghanaian statistician, Dr. Oku Ampofo, the first native doctor, Prof. Alexander Adum Kwapong, the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana. A host of them from Larteh, from Akuapem, from Aburi.” He said.
There was more! He was very confident, whilst touting his town as the only town in Ghana to have produced three Heads of State. Even more daring, he compared this to the United States of America. According to him, they were able to produce two Heads of State from the same family line; George Walker Henry Bush (41st President of the U.S) and his son George Walker Bush (43rd President of the U.S), but couldn’t produce a third.
In their case, however, he said, all 3 Akufos emanated from their ethnic group; the Akuapem.
“This is the only area we’ve had 3 Heads of State coming from. I think it is the whole world. There’s no town that has been able to produce 3 Heads of State. The United States tried to do it by producing the Bush’. The first Bush and the second Bush but they were not able to produce the third Bush. But we have been able to produce Akufo-Addo (Edward Akufo-Addo – a member of the big 6 and President from 1970-72 ), and we produced General Akuffo (Lieutenant General William Fred Kwasi Akuffo – Head of State and Chair of Supreme Military Council who was overthrown by a military coup) and we’ve produced Akufo-Addo (Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo – current President of Ghana) again,” he said.
“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hails from here. His father is from here, his mother is from Akyem but if we are to go the European way, he is an Akuapem because he is holding our name; Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; all the four names. They named him after Oseadeoyo Nana Addo Dankwa I (Akuapem Chief who ruled from 1816 to 1836) that great man. His father has a house here, this is his hometown. His father and mother were buried here beside each other at the Presbyterian cemetery. This is his town and we are proud of him.”
