William Kofi Akwa Asare Kwamena-Poh was born to Michael and Cecilia Kwamena-Poh on Febrruary 12 1960, in the small town of Adukrom, in the Akuapem mountains,part of the Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa. William is the second of four children born to this union.His parents at that time were both educators in Ghana. His Fathers' path started in the Teacher Trainning School System in the Akuapem Region, then to Prempeh College Secondary school in Kumasi, which is the capital of the Ashanti Region in Ghana.He finally moved on to the Uninversity of Science and Technology, also in Kumasi,where he started the African Affairs Program, in the Department of Social Studies. The University of Science and Technolgy was one of the many projects that Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana built to help expand the quality of education in Ghana. The years at the university were the most formative for William and his siblings. It was here that his artistic talent became apparent and nurtured by his father through art teachers to help develop this talent.

During those years however, as a young boy growing up, William found it very difficult to adjust within the family system. As the second born son, with two others siblings, he fell into the middle child syndrome and rebelled. "I found it hard to fit into a structured way of life and i am sure like a lot of young boys growing up with an older brother and younger sister and another brother, that i was not wanted. So in a lot of ways i behaved badly and tried to go on my own and do things the way i wanted to. Through all this i started sketching to release my feelings of selflessness and find a way to develop my own identity".

With the help of a distant relative who taught in the art department, at the university, William learned to grow artistically, but it wasnt what he wanted to play at. One day his Uncle asked him to sketch a bamboo grove and after trying a few times got frustrated and asked what good was it to sketch this grove. "Once you master sketching this grove and the shadows, you will never have a problem doing market and group scenes." It took him a long time to finally come to appreciate those words of wisdom spoken some three decades ago by his uncle.

In 1972 at the age of twelve, William was admitted to Prempeh College Secondary School,an all boys boarding school.Named after one of the greatest Ashanti Kings, Nana Prempeh I. Highly regarded and respected for the quality of education,Prempeh Collge was the place to go to high school in Ghana.

In his third year in high school,he had a choice between typing and art, which were both offered at the same time. He chose art and tried to develop his talent further. Unfortunately, his high school art teacher had one philosophy,which was; if you can draw, great, but if you can't you are on your own. It wasn't till after he failed his high school art exams and his dad demanded that he take it over, that he found someone who could help nurture and hone his artistic skills. It was then that he realised what a wonderful skill he had and began to feel good about himself and his talent. With the help of Albert Pupulampu, a graduate degree art student, William was able to learn art finally. Mr Pupulampu taught William not to use the eraser and work with all his lines. By learning to build a sketch or drawing with continious motion, there was no need of the eraser. The other mental attitude, Mr Pupulampu taught this young man was, not to think of making a mistake and that everything was part of one. With this mind set, there was no room for error. In 1978, William took his O Level(Ordinary Level)(equivalent to high school diploma Exam) art exam again and passed.

In 1980 after working in the university library for two years, William and his older brother, Swithin joined their father in Alabama, who was on a Fulbright Scholarship, teaching at a small Black College; Talladega College, in Talladega Alabama.