By Adnan Adams Mohammed
Ghana’s Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, has made a passionate call for a radical shift in the nation’s educational model.
He argued that the current system often forces Ghanaians into a “state of non-identity” by favoring colonial legacies over indigenous heritage.
Speaking as the Guest Speaker at the 95th Anniversary Speech and Prize Giving Day of his alma mater, Accra Academy, on March 28, 2026, Mr. Agyebeng addressed the theme: “Education as the Catalyst for Preserving Heritage, Driving Innovation, and Empowering Future Leadership”.
The Crisis of Identity
In a deeply philosophical address, the Special Prosecutor lamented how Ghanaians have “lost themselves” by strictly adhering to colonial-era naming conventions and educational structures. He questioned why, nearly 70 years after independence, many still insist on Europeanized spellings of local towns and regions, such as “Ashanti” instead of Asante, “Kumasi” instead of Kumase, and “Cape Coast” instead of Oguaa.
”We are copying hard to be like others,” Mr. Agyebeng stated. “In the end, we are not us anymore. We are not them either… We are in the in-between”. He warned that this “existential dilemma” retards national progress and impairs creative innovation.
The Accra Academy Model as a Blueprint
Mr. Agyebeng pointed to the founding of Accra Academy in 1931 as a masterclass in innovation. Founded by four young men in their twenties without the aid of the State or the Church, the school was designed to offer high-quality education to the “brilliant but deprived” while maintaining an African identity.
He highlighted the school’s unique philosophical foundation, embodied in its three mottos:
Esse Quam Videri: “To be, rather than to seem” a call to stay true to one’s heritage.
Non Sibi Sed Aliis: “Not for self, but for others” intended to empower future leaders through selflessness.
Non Scholæ Sed Vita Discimus: “We do not learn for school, but for life” the ultimate driver of innovation.
A Call for a “Triune” of Education
The Special Prosecutor proposed that the future of Ghanaian education must focus on the “triune of human productivity”: the heart to take wise counsel, the head to brave challenges, and the hand to work with a clear conscience.
”Our sterlingness would be borne of education that preserves our heritage to assure our place on the global scene as a force to reckon with,” he noted, emphasizing that the preservation of heritage is what ultimately empowers leadership and drives innovation.
The event concluded with Mr. Agyebeng paying tribute to the school’s founders and the teachers who “forged in fire” the foundation of his own career.
