A former O Level schoolmate of late Ghanaian professor Kofi Akamani has recounted how the academic rose from a poor background to become a professor in the United States.
The schoolmate, who described himself as a close friend of Akamani, said his father, a pantry man at Osei Tutu Senior High School, struggled financially but prioritised his son’s education.
“He was a guy from a very poor financial background who got where he was because of education,” he wrote on Facebook.
Akamani attended Cambridge International and later Osei Tutu as a day student because his father could not afford boarding school or A-Level education.
He later trained as a teacher and began teaching before taking and passing his A-Level examinations. He subsequently gained admission to KNUST to study Forestry.
Akamani went on to secure scholarships for his master’s degree in Europe and his PhD at the University of Idaho in the United States.
The 48-year-old professor at Southern Illinois University was reportedly shot multiple times in his car outside a residence in Jackson County, Illinois, on Saturday, September 19, 2026.
He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, where he died.
His 35-year-old estranged wife, Betty Akamani, has been arrested and charged in connection with his death.
The former schoolmate said both of Akamani’s parents are still alive, making his death particularly painful for the family.
