Theresa Kufuor, a former First Lady, and E.T Mensah, a former MP, Minister and currently, member of the Council of State have passed on.
The death of Mrs Kufuor, 87, and that of E.T Mensah, 77, were both made public yesterday.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has so far consoled former President John Agyekum Kufuor and his family, over the passing of his wife.
After expressing sympathy yesterday to the Kufuor family, President Akufo-Addo paid tribute to the former First Lady.
“Her passing reminds me keenly of human mortality, that is that Almighty God will come for each and every one of us at the appropriate time,” he wrote.
President Akufo-Addo recalled the cordial relationship between himself and Theresa Kufuor, her family, particularly her brother, the late J. H Mensah, as well as nephew, Ambassador D. K Osei.
President Akufo-Addoexpressed admiration for her “invaluable and constant source of advice,” encouragement and prayers for former President Kufuor, who led the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to government in 2001.
He lauded the warmth, kindness and grace of the former First Lady, adding that “she bore the vicissitudes of life with great stoicism and an unshakeable belief in the sovereignty of Almighty God.”
Mrs Theresa Kufuor died on October 1, 2023, after battling ill health for some time.
She started her education at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta, in the Volta Region of Ghana, and was educated In the United Kingdom (UK) as a Registered General Nurse, in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing, Edinburgh, Scotland.
After further study at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford and Paddington General Hospital, London, she qualified as a State Certified Midwife with a Certificate in Premature Nursing.
The former First Lady married John Agyekum Kufuor when he was at age 23 after they met at a Republic Day Anniversary Dance in London in 1961.
Theresa Kufuor was a mother of five, and a grandmother of eight. She was a devout Roman Catholic.
As First Lady, she pushed for policy changes in the Government’s white paper on Educational Reforms towards the implementation of UNESCO’s Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program for kindergarten children in 2017.
She also founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), a non-governmental organisation operating in Ghana and Canada that supports work in prevention of mother to child transmission.
E.T Mensah, former MP for Ningo-Prampram Constituency, passed away in South Africa, October 1, 2023, after battling ill-health.
He was born on May 17, 1946 and was married and blessed seven children.
Mr E.T Mensah, a stalwart of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from January 1997 till January 2017.
E.T. Mensah was elected as an MP of the second parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana in 1996.
He retained his seat as NingoPrampram MP until 2016, when he lost the NDC’s parliamentary primary to Samuel Nartey George.
E.T Mensah was appointed Minister of Education, Minister of Youth and Sports, Chief Executive of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) under the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) military regime in the country.
He once served as the Minority Chief Whip in parliament prior to the parliamentary election in 2008 and in in January 2009, he became the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament.
Under the Fourth Republic, he was appointed Minister for Youth and Sports.
In January 2010, President John Atta Mills appointed him Minister of Employment and Social Welfare.
Mr E.T Mensah was a member of the Pan-African Parliament until January 2009, and on February 12, 2021, he was elected as the representative of the Council of State for the Greater Accra Region.
BY TIMES REPORTER
