<<Print>>

'Victor', 'Fred', 'Ofosu', 'Kwabena Sei' - these were some of the most oft cited names on the lips of my parents during my childhood. The quartet were their prot�g�s, young persons in whom they were well pleased. Each was to play a distinguished part in the life of our nation - 'Victor�, Victor Owusu, the future great Attorney-General and 1979 presidential candidate of the Popular Front Party; 'Fred', Fred Apaloo, the future Chief Justice, by common consent the outstanding Chief Justice of the modern era; 'Ofosu', L.H Ofosu Appiah, already then a well-known classical scholar and the future Director of the Encyclopaedia Africana; and 'Kwabena Sei', my father's nephew, A.A Kwapong, who was to be no less distinguished in his career than the other three. They were all frequent visitors to our parents' home in the 1950s, none more so than the tall, handsome, affable man with a warm, engaging manner, Alexander Adum Kwapong. Urbane and witty, with a rich sense of humour, he was an obvious object of hero-worship for an energetic, inquisitive young boy. So iconic was his presence in my life that I was, initially, determined to follow in his footsteps as a classicist. Indeed, I took ancient Greek at O'level, and Latin at A'level. By the end of secondary school, however, the pull of history, politics and economics eroded my enthusiasm for the classics, ending, thereby, also, my ability in later life to quote Homer, Sophocles, Virgil or Catullus with the fluency and aplomb of my uncle Alex. I confess I continue to regret that till this day. He was an excellent product of the early Ghanaian educational system - Akropong Salem School and Achimota College - which moulded his deeply Presbyterian origins, as befitting a direct descendant of the famous Rev. Theophilus Opoku. After a brilliant student academic career - it is difficult to beat a First Class from King�s College, Cambridge - he joined the public service of our country as a young lecturer at the University of Ghana. He belonged to the generation of Ghanaians who grew to maturity in the last days of the Gold Coast and the early days of Ghana, and who saw it as their duty to help build the public institutions of our new state. No crass search for material enrichment, nothing but the best was good enough for the new Ghana. He devoted his exceptional intellect and considerable energy to help create a world class centre of learning out of the infant University. Very much at home in its Oxbridge-like collegiate environment, the advancement of Legon became his passion. He was the quintessential don, friendly, accessible and constantly stimulating young minds. It was entirely logical that, in 1966, he became the first indigenous Vice-Chancellor of our premier University, having served his apprenticeship as Pro-Vice Chancellor under the famous, controversial Conor Cruise O'Brien. When I, as a then second year undergraduate, alluded to the potentially nepotistic undertones of his appointment, since my father was Chairman of the University Council that made the appointment, my father's response was typical. It would be wholly absurd if the accident of his chairmanship of the Council was to stand in the way of what Alex Kwapong's quality and service clearly entitled him to. "Res ipsa loquitur", the old man ended. ("The thing speaks for itself"). It was the first time I heard that Latin lawyer's phrase, and appropriately enough it was made in relation to the great classical scholar, A.A Kwapong. If Legon continues today to enjoy a positive international reputation, his contribution to that development was truly seminal. He occupied the office of Vice-Chancellor for a decade and stepped down in 1975, to be succeeded by Prof. Adjei Bekoe who, curiously enough, was to succeed him also as Chairman of the Council of State three decades later. After sojourns abroad in Canada and Japan, where he garnered more academic accolades and laurels, he returned home to Ghana to his crowning achievement. Upon becoming President of the Republic in January 2001, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor appointed, for his first term, Prof. Alex Kwapong Chairman of the Council of State. No more meritorious appointment was ever made. Those who know these things and follow the doings of that necessarily discreet institution say that the most productive phase of its work so far was during the chairmanship of Alex Kwapong. Its system of work and output were, according to an informed observer, "phenomenal". That sounds just like him. He had a wonderful marriage to the beautiful Evelyn Caesar, with whom he had six delightful daughters - Korantemaa, Oseiwa, Opokua, Adumea, Faake, Kweiki. He maintained his love and affection for my mother right up to her own death ten years ago. Our mother never ceased to point out to us that it was Mrs. Kwapong, Alex Kwapong's mother, who taught her about beads and helped her in her initial purchase of her own large collection of beads. For me, he remained all my life a never failing source of good advice and encouragement, even on his sick hospital bed at the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth in London some few months ago. I will sorely miss him, and I extend to Auntie Evelyn and his family the deepest condolences of my wife, Rebecca, and myself. Renaissance man, classicist, educationist, humanist, scholar, lover of literature and art, fountain of rich Ghanaian folklore, raconteur and wit, he was a great Ghanaian patriot, the like of which we will not see again for a long time. It is fitting that I conclude this song of praise to Alexander Adum Kwapong with a quote from one of the great poets of ancient classical times, Virgil, in his Roman epic, the Aeneid: "Vixi, et quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi: Et nunc magna mei sub terras currit imago" ("I have lived and I have run the course which fortune allotted me; and now my shade shall descend illustrious to the grave.") May the Almighty God bless him and give his soul peaceful rest.