Kwame Nkrumah was born Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma in Nkroful, Gold Coast, i.e. now Ghana on 21st September, 1909. He was the founder and first president of modern Ghana and emerged as one of the most influential and authoritative Pan-African of the 20th century. One of the popular national heroes of Ghana, he preached in black Presbyterian Churches when he was in the United Nations. He was also a lecturer in political science at Lincoln and it was then that he was elected president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada. Nkrumah has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Lincoln University, Moscow State University; Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland; Humboldt University in the former East Berlin; Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt and many other universities. He died in 27th April, 1972.
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor was born in Kumasi on 8th December, 1938 and is the current president of Ghana. He has been in office since 7th January, 2001. President Kufuor ran for election in 2000 and won, following Jerry Rawlings, who defeated him when he ran for President in the election in 1996. Kufuor is today one of the famous Ghanaian national heroes and he was elected on 29th January, 2008 the next Chairperson of the African Union for the 2008-2008 AU sessions.
Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was born at Alakple, a village in the Keta district of the Volta Region on 26th October, 1926 and he was a member of the ruling National Liberation Council which came to power in Ghana in a military coup d'état on 24th February, 1966. He overthrew the government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the republic. At first he started training as a goldsmith but later switched to a career in the military. Kotoka enlisted as a private in the Infantry School of the Gold Coast Regiment at Teshie in Accra in July 1947. One of Ghanaian national heroes, the Ghana International Airport was renamed Kotoka International Airport in his memory. More so because he was killed at a spot which is now part of the courtyard of the airport and his statue stands at that point.
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