We illustrate the life of Benjamin Kwakye, a lawyer who currently practices in-house with a major global company. Ben was born in Ghana. From surviving a coup d’état with his family in his native Ghana—and the life-changing circumstances that followed—to a 25-year legal career, he has seen it all.
Source: vanguardlawmag.com
Ben’s father was a police officer in Ghana, who rose through the ranks and became the head of Ghana Police and then the Minister of Interior. As Ghana was under a military rule, in 1979, there was a coup d’ etat, where the ruling government was overthrown and Ben’s father was exiled from Ghana. Ben explained that the government confiscated all his father’s assets and that the rest of the family lived in Ghana while their father lived in Togo in exile.
Inspired by his dad’s experience, Ben’s dream was to pursue a public service career specifically in international relations. At Dartmouth where he earned a degree in Government, he was exposed to a significant number of Africans on campus which helped him still feel at home even though he was thousands of miles away from his native Ghana. He studied abroad to learn French so he could use that skill in diplomatic relations back in Africa. Ben graduated Dartmouth in 1990 and went on to Harvard Law School, graduating with Juris Doctor degree in 1993. He financed his education with a combination of grants, work study and student loans.
Ben worked for a law firm after school for four years. Since his goal was to start a diplomacy career, he applied to work at the United Nations in Geneva. Simultaneously, he applied for a role at Abbott Laboratories. Ben received an offer from Abbott and decided to move to the corporate world at Abbott working on a wide range of business, securities and benefits matters.
As far as advice for others looking to enter an Ivy league law school, Ben suggests these three points:
- Academic excellence in school work
- Demonstrating leadership in school organizations (for example, he was the Editor of the Spirit, a literary journal, in addition participating in a wide range of extracurricular activities)
- Build good relationships with professors and leaders in the school and community to provide a support network and for assistance with needed recommendations
While Ben was going through his education and professional journey, one of his favorite things to do was writing. Writers that inspired him include Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ayi Kwei Armah and others.
Ben began writing at an early age, initially focused on poetry and continued his writing journey through college. His first book, written while he was working at the law firm, was published in the late-90s. He sees writing as a therapeutic outlet.
Ben’s first novel, “The Clothes of Nakedness” won the 1999 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Africa Region) and has been adapted for radio as a BBC Play of the Week. His novel, “The Sun By Night” won the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa Region). His other awards include the 2011 IPPY Gold Award for Adult Multicultural Fiction for “The Other Crucifix”. Ben is a recipient of the 2000 Afrique Newsmagazine WEB DuBois Award for Literature and was a finalist for the 2019 Snyder Poetry Prize. Eustace Palmer, a leading African scholar, describes Ben as continuing “to reinforce his claim to being incontestably in the front rank of African writers.”
Ben explained that he strategically selects smaller African publishers because they give him the creative freedom. A couple of publishers he has worked with are Africa World Press and Cissus World Press.
In addition, Ben sits on the Board of Directors of the African Education Initiative, an America based non-profit dedicated to promoting science education in Africa. The organization solicits funds to help educational institutions and students with curriculum development, scholarships, books, and internships, among other.
