Professor Joseph Bediako Asare is a former Chief Psychiatrist
The 1966 military coup that overthrew Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, did more than just change the country’s political direction; it also altered the personal lives of many young Ghanaians studying abroad at the time.
One of them was Professor Joseph Bediako Asare, a future Chief Psychiatrist of Ghana, who found himself forced into marriage while still a medical student in Poland.
Speaking in an interview with ace broadcaster Kafui Dey, Professor Asare recalled how Nkrumah had sent him and several other young Ghanaians to Eastern Europe to study and later return to help build the nation.
“Kwame Nkrumah wanted most of us to go to the East Indies countries. So, I selected medicine and I selected Poland,” he recalled.
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However, just as his training was beginning, Nkrumah was removed from office on February 24, 1966, while on a visit to Vietnam.
The new military government suspended Ghana’s overseas scholarship allowances, leaving students stranded.
“This was my first year in medical school, and the coup happened. We never knew that the government that was going to come would stop our allowances for coming. So, for about two years, nothing was happening, nothing was coming,” he stated.
With no financial support, he married a young Polish woman who helped take care of him.
“So, I was forced to marry. I had a child in 1967 as a young medical student and she was looking after me. My daughter is still there,” he said.
Despite the hardships, Professor Asare managed to complete his studies, detailing how he was coached by renowned doctors.
“I went to a district hospital where I finished. There were many doctors, and the doctors were ready to teach, so they gave me accommodation. I was always there, and they taught me a lot,” he added.
Watch the interview below:
The 1966 Coup in Ghana led me to marry a Polish Woman
Kwame Nkrumah sent young Prof. J.B. Asare and his colleagues to the east to study and come back to help Ghana, then the 1966 coup hit and he had to marry a young Polish woman to take care of him.
Full interview here… pic.twitter.com/aEvXhRaBOK
— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) January 11, 2026
FKA/AE
