Simonbooks’s Reviews > General Acheampong: The Life and Times of Ghana’s Head of State > Status Update

I had almost finished this book by February. But then my exams started and I had to pause for a while. In April and May then, I reread the whole book. I just finished and I really like the book!

Hmm, slowly I start to understand why Acheampong is not regarded well by many people in Ghana. After his initial successes in economic development, the whole economy basically collapsed after just four years in power. Economic mismanagement and poor leadership led to Acheampong's downfall. Its quite sad actually. His beginnings were so promising...

Im still wondering why I.K. Acheampong has attracted so little attention. While most people in the West probably don't know him, even in Ghana he is rarely mentioned. Whatever, reading this book shows how revolutionary and promising his ideas were. His idea of homegrown development based on self-sufficiency in Ghana is a fundamental shift. Later, others like Thomas Sankara implemented similar ideas and became famous.

After reading the biography of Ghana's founding leader and visionary Kwame Nkrumah, I continue with a biography of General I. K. Acheampong. Acheampong was a military general who gained power in Ghana through a military coup in 1972. From all I have heard, he seems to be a very interesting personality with many political ideas, but poor implementing skills (just like Nkrumah). He is poorly known in the west, I feel.