I ‘discovered’ Dr. Afari-Gyan at a drinking spot - Kwamena Ahwoi

Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi has said that he discovered Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the former Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, at a drinking spot.

According to the former local government minister, he was sent on a mission to contact Kofi Drah, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, by Captain Kojo Tsikata, a member of the PNDC, to convince Kofi Drah to join the committee of experts to work on Ghana’s 1992 constitution.

Prof. Ahwoi narrated that, while he was on his way, he branched into a favourite drinking spot within the Achimota forest where a number of University of Ghana lecturers including Dr. Kwesi Botchwey usually met for occasional social drinks.

He recalled that when he got into the drinking spot, Dr Afari-Gyan was drinking alone.

“I joined him and engaged him in a conversation, hoping to find out from him the residence of Mr Drah. As the conversation dragged on, I began to see Dr Afari-Gyan in a new light. He was not only a progressive intellectual; he was also pro-Nkrumaist and not hostile to the revolution," Ahwoi said in his new controversial book ‘Working with Rawlings’.

He continued: “I steered the conversation in the direction of the unfolding transition to constitutional rule and his views seemed to echo those of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)."

“I aborted my trip to locate Mr Drah’s house, turned back and reported to Captain Tsikata’s office the next day. The rest is history,” Ahwoi said.