After spending time holed up in various detention dungeons of the government of Mr. Paul Biya, (including the notorious cells of the National Gendarmerie, Yaoundé, Maximum Security Prison in Kondengui and the Special Prison at the MefouetAfambe) he suffered partial paralysis of his lower limb and other torture-related illnesses. He was eventually tried and sentenced to serve a 20 years jail-term in 1999 but was rescued from the Maximum Security Prison of Kondengui-Yaoundé after serving over 7 years. He spent three years in Nigeria on exile where he escaped more than three assassination attempts on his life and later resettled in the United States of America in February of 2006.
In spite running through this challenging ruse of life, Ebenezer never lost sight of his deep academic urges. In fact he had sacrificed his education for millions of people. He eventually went back to the class room, where he graduated Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona and a Master of Arts Degree in Diplomacy (cum laude) from the famed Norwich University in Vermont, USA.
In December 2014, Ebenezer was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Political Science by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and graduated in April 2015. His research interests are conflict transformation, peace and conflict studies, international political economy, guerrilla governance and state-building, African and global politics. He taught global politics and issues and themes in peace studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Ebenezer is currently working for a second doctorate with the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom with concentration on state-building. He wrote Smiling Through Hardship in 2007 and has also co-authored Burundi’s Negative Peace with Professor Samuel Kale Ewusi, Director of United Nations University for Peace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr. Akwanga is married to Agnes Abungwi Akwanga, his life over the years; friend, sister, wife, and mother. They live with their three children and a grandchild in the USA.
The honoree who has been victim of all forms of torture and dehumanization, abandoned even by the church which was expected to protect him has remained steadfast in his quest to ensure the respect for human rights and dignity for all. It is against this traumatizing but enriching experience that the Ebenezer Akwanga Human Rights and Humanitarian Institutewas founded by a group of friends with Dr. Akwanga’s unflinching blessings so as to keep the aspirations, dreams and hopes of Ebenezer burning while immortalizing and encouraging others to work towards improving the world, reaching hearts far and near and touching minds in other to make the world a better place to live in