He went through various first cycle educational institutions in the Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana before gaining admission into Mpraeso Secondary School in 1968.

Gen Akwa was appointed to serve as the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the former President John Agyekum Kuffuor from 2005, till the end of his term in January 2009.

He also served as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Ghana Battalion as part of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

In this appointment, he commanded the largest sector of the MONUSCO operational area (covering six of the eleven Provinces of the country) in a highly dynamic, multicultural and multilingual environment.

[3] In February 2017, President Akufo-Addo announced the appointment of the then Maj Gen Akwa as the next Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS) replacing Air Marshal Oje who was due to retire.

In 2021, it was announced through a communique from the Office of the President that Lt Gen Akwa had come to the end of his duty tour and would be retiring effective 5 February 2021.