Kwesi Armah

Sitter in 2 portraits
Ghanaian politician and diplomat. In his role as Ghanaian High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, in 1965, he was asked by President Nkrumah to lead a delegation of diplomats to Vietnam but the mission which hoped to establish ties with the government in Hanoi was unsuccessful. Later Arman, in his role as the Minister for Overseas Trade accompanied President Nkrumah who led another delegation to Vietnam which also ended in failure. In the absence of both men, a military coup took place in Ghana ( 1966). Armah's family were placed under house arrest whilst Armah became unable to return to Ghana. Ghana filed an extradition request to answer charges for the misuse of large sums of government funds but the request was not granted by Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary of the UK. Armagh was tried at the Old Bailey in London but later aquitted and reunited with his family who after two years were allowed to return to their home in London Later, Armah was leader of the People's National Party (PNP) but came under corruption charges again serving seven years in prison.