6 top African heads of state who once attended the Achimota School

Achimota School which was formerly known as the Prince of Wales College and School, Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in the Greater Accra region.

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The school was founded in 1924 by Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, and Rev. Alec Garden Fraser.

Over the past week, the school has been in the news for its rejection of some students who appeared in the school with dreadlocks.

They were advised to either cut off their dreadlock or forget about getting admission into the school.

Many are those who chastised the school and even urged the boy to look elsewhere for his secondary education.

The decision by the school not to admit the students who had kept their hair in locks drew a lot of controversy as one of the rejected students, Tyrone Iras Marghuy noted that the school should focus on their brains instead of their looks.

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But looking at the impressive list of prominent past students including six who ruled countries across Africa, it is no wonder that Marghuy was bent on going there.

In view of this, YEN.com.gh has listed some African leaders who once attended the Achimota School

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1. Kwame Nkrumah

Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957.

In 1925 while Nkrumah was a student-teacher in a catholic school, he was noticed by the Reverend Alec Garden Fraser, principal of the Government Training College (soon to become Achimota School) in the Gold Coast's capital, Accra.

Fraser arranged for Nkrumah to train as a teacher at his school.

2. Robert Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017.

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He is one of the many African leaders who acquired education from the age-old Achimota School in Accra, Ghana.

3. Kofi Abrefa Busia

Busia was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972.

He was educated at Methodist School, Wenchi, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, then at Wesley College, Kumasi, from 1931 to 1932. He taught at Wesley College and left to study and teach at Achimota College.

4. Dawda Jawara

Dawda was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of The Gambia from 1970 to 1994.

He was educated at the Methodist Boys' School in Bathurst and then attended Achimota College in Ghana.

The limited career and educational opportunities in the colonial Gambia led to a year's stint at Prince of Wales College and School in Achimota, Accra, in the then Gold Coast, where he studied science.

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5. Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings

Rawlings was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979.

In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the Fourth Republic.

Rawlings finished his secondary education at Achimota College in 1967. He also met his beautiful wife at Achimota College.

6. Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills

A Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012.

He attended the prestigious Achimota School for his secondary education, where he completed the Ordinary and Advanced-Level Certificates in 1961.

In other news, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has made another U-turn on its earlier order to the Achimota School not to admit the two Rastafarian students denied admission to the school because of their dreadlocks.

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It has directed the school to admit the students with their rasta hair as against its earlier directive that the school should not admit them.

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Source: YEN.com.gh