10 facts about Theresa Kufuor: First 4th Republican First Lady to pass on

The death of Theresa Kufuor, former First Lady of Ghana, was reported on October 1, 2023.

The matriarch of the John Agyekum Kufuor household died at their countryside home at Peduase in the Eastern Region.

Government has declared flags to fly at half-mast between October 2nd till 8th at all government buildings and foreign missions.

The residence where she died has become a beehive of activities as the widower and family members receive well-wishers who file in to fill a book of condolence and grieve with the family.

The deceased, fondly referred to as Mama Theresa, becomes the first former First Lady to pass on under the Fourth Republican Constitution

GhanaWeb profiles the one-time First Lady in 10 key points:

1. She was born Theresa Aba Mensah on December 18, 1937, thus she died at the age of 87.

2. Theresa Kufuor started her education at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta in the Volta Region.

3. She later went to London, where she was educated as a Registered General Nurse, in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing, Edinburgh, Scotland.

4. 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.

5. She was a sister to former MP and Senior Minister, the late Joseph Henry Mensah

6. Theresa met and married John Agyekum Kufuor in London on Septemer 8, 1962. She was 25 years at the time while her husband was 23.

7. In 61 years together, the Kufuors had five children; John Addo Kufuor, Nana Ama Gyamfi, Saah Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor, and Owusu Afriyie Kufuor. GhanaWeb checks shows that she was a grandmother of eight.

8. As First Lady, she founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), a non-governmental organization operating in Ghana and Canada that supports work in prevention of mother to child transmission.

In 2007 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.

9. She was a devout Roman Catholic. In October 2010, Theresa Kufuor and the husband were honoured by the global Roman Catholic Church at the time led by Pope Benedict XVI.

She was awarded the Papal Award Dame of St Gregory the Great for her commitment to the plight of poor children and their mothers.

The Pope conferred on her husband, the Papal Award of Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great, for his dedicated service to mankind and the Catholic Church in general.

10. Mama Theresa, First Lady between 2001 to 2009, almost vanished from public view after her husband retired.

SARA

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