Kwabena came from a very poor home and thus was always first on the list of students who owed fees and had to be sent home most of the time at Kumasi Academy. Although this affected him psychologically, he didn't give up, as he was determined to finish school by whatever means possible and therefore managed to stay in school. Fortunately, he did relatively well in class and was first in the second term examination.

It was, however, the policy of the school that no matter how good a student was, he/she would never be promoted to form five if he/she didn't take part and pass the third terminal examination. Due to this policy he devised a strategy to enable him to write the exam while avoiding Mr. Brefo. The 'master' plan was to come in 30 minutes after the start of the paper and leave 30 minutes before the end of the paper and it worked perfectly for the first two papers until Mr. Brefo decided to come around in the middle of the exam on the third day. Somehow he might have figured out the plan.

As expected and dreaded, Mr. Brefo drove Kwabena out, much to the dismay of all his mates but they couldn't do much about it. At this point Kwabena thought that was surely the end of his education.

However, as fate would have it, and unknown to him, his fees saga was reported to the headmaster, Mr. Osei Kofi, who wrote an urgent letter to the Ghanaian Cocoa Board for a special scholarship to enable him to complete his education. Fortunately, the request was granted and, in addition, the headmaster, by an administrative fiat, promoted Kwabena to form five against the established policy.

Kwabena rose to become a Deputy Managing Director (Finance and Administration) of the Ghanaian Commercial Bank and head of several reputable institutions.

"KWABENA POOR BOY" is told to demonstrate that determination and perseverance to move on in life despite all the odds pay. Kwabena cultivated the 'can do' and 'never say die' spirits and faith in God to achieve whatever he set for himself. These were the pillars of his rise as he soldiered on in life.

Never give up on your desires and ambitions no matter what happens to you. Once there is life there is always hope. Never leave out the love of God in anything you do because without God we can't achieve anything.