Ebenezer Laryea Akita was born Accra, Ghana, in 1934. He was educated at the Government Secondary Technical School, Takoradi from 1952-1956, before gaining a BA in design at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, in 1963. Akita was then part of a group of 8 KNUST students selected as part of an exchange programme with the Architectural Association, London, which had entered a contract in that year to assist with the development of the architecture programme at KNUST. Akita entered the Third Year cohort of the AA five-year Diploma course and, as part of his final year’s studies in 1965-66, elected to join the programme of the AA Department of Tropical Studies. His final thesis project was for a maternity hospital, which he worked on jointly with Francis Segbedzi, a fellow KNUST student in the Department. Following marriage and graduation from the AA, Ebenezer secured a position with James Cubitt and Partners, in London, for two years, before heading back to Ghana in 1968 where he became part of Design Group Ghana. In 1972 Akita partnered with Martin Adu Badu and Nii Oman Mensah to form the Architectural Design Partnership, based in Accra, a major Ghanian practice whose works included offices for the Tema Development Corporation, for whom they also designed Community 13 housing, in Tema. They were also responsible for designed and supervising workers' housing in most of the principal Ghanaian towns for the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), together with a number of hospitals. From 1980-82, Ebenezer served as the President of Ghana Institute of Architects.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1945-71. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Diploma Roll, 1966. AA Archives
• Architectural Association Membership Register, 1969, 1974
• Jane B. Drew: a tribute from colleagues and friends for her 75th birthday, 24th March 1986. Bristol Centre for the Advancement of Architecture, 1986, p142.
• Who’s Who in the World, 1982-1983. Marquis Who’s Who, 1982, p15.                     
• ‘Celebrating Gt. Arc. Ebenezer Laryea Akita ’52-‘56’, Government Secondary Technical School Alumni Association, Facebook post, 10th, September 2021. Accessed 9th November, 2025: https://www.facebook.com/groups/339048899530693/posts/3822660574502824/