KIND GENERAL: “He was very kind and likable” — Major Adjei-Ampofo Recalls General Acheampong’s Softer Side

Before General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong became one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Ghana’s political history, he was, to those who knew him closely, a man remembered for something much simpler: his kindness.

Major Patrick Adjei-Ampofo (rtd), who served as Military Assistant to Acheampong, has offered a personal glimpse into the character of the former military leader, describing him as “a very popular man” and an exceptionally likable person.

“Oh, he was a very popular man. He was a very likeable person,” Major Adjei-Ampofo recalled in an interview with Kafui Dey.

And for the retired officer, this was not merely a public image.

“I liked him very much,” he said.

Asked what made Acheampong so likable, Major Adjei-Ampofo pointed to a quality he said was difficult to achieve in military leadership: the ability to be firm without losing his humanity.

“Ah, he was very kind,” he said. “It was hard to strike a medium between strictness and kindness.”

That balance, according to Major Adjei-Ampofo, was particularly evident in Acheampong’s relationship with soldiers.

“He was good with soldiers,” he recalled.

Acheampong’s connection with the rank and file may, he suggested, have been influenced by his own journey through the military. Unlike officers who entered through the conventional officer route, Acheampong had first served in the ranks before becoming an officer.

“He came to the ranks as a soldier before he became an officer,” Major Adjei-Ampofo said.

But beneath the easy-going personality was a man the former aide considered highly intelligent.

“He was very, very intelligent,” he said, adding that Acheampong personally wrote his own speeches.

The relationship between the two men also extended beyond military duties.

Major Adjei-Ampofo recalled that Acheampong trained him in accounts, but perhaps more revealingly, he described a spiritual side of the general that was rarely part of the public image of the military ruler.

“He was spiritual as well. He prayed a lot,” he said.

The prayers were not occasional.

“We used to pray together,” Major Adjei-Ampofo revealed.

Every Sunday, he would go to Acheampong’s house, where the General had a private space for prayer.

“Every Sunday I would go there and then we had a sanctum and we all went to pray,” he recalled.

It is a portrait of General Acheampong that sits far from the familiar images of military uniforms, political power and the controversies surrounding his years at the helm of Ghana.