Accra, Nov 6, GNA-President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday led Ghanaians to pay their last respects to the late Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, immediate former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, proposing the establishment of a trust fund in memory the late politician and chartered accountant.
The body of the late Minister, also Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, lied in a wooden coffin draped with the Ghana national colours of red, yellow and green, with a black star in the yellow, at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra, ahead of a burial service and private interment at his hometown, Agogo next Saturday. The coffin rested under a canopy surrounded by wreaths laid by the President on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana; the Speaker of Parliament Mr Ebenezer Hughes; the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning; and the wife, Mrs Magaret Wiredu.
The Forecourt of the State House in Accra where the funeral was held became a sea of mourning paraphernalia, in mostly red and black colours, signifying the deep sense of the nation's loss of her Finance Minister, who died on September 24, 2008, in a South African Hospital of what was described as post surgery complications of prostrate cancer. Tributes from the Presidency, Parliament, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the wife, and children re-echoed the affability, industriousness, honesty and humility characteristics of the life of the Minister, voted twice as Africa's Best Economics Minister. The funeral service was interspersed with hymns, elegies, poems and incantations to celebrate the life of the man who was called "the action man" by the local press.
President Kufuor's tribute read by Papa Owusu Ankomah, Minister Trade, Industries and President's Special Initiatives, observed that the news of the death of the late Baah Wiredu, who was the first named cabinet when the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) came into power in 2001, shocked him to the core.
The President recounted how they met under the auspices of the Danquah-Busia tradition and eulogised Mr Baah-Wiredu as someone who spoke not just to be heard, but to add value.
"He was not the man who was to make plans in the air. This was the man whose focus was on Ghana and to make Ghana," the President said, and praised the efforts of the late Minister in the establishment of the Bui Dam and affiliate projects. President Kufuor observed that the late Minister set the shining example of setting aside April 14 for the filing of the tax returns of taxes of high profile personalities. Delivering the sermon, Rt. Rev Abraham Tagoe, the Methodist Bishop of Accra, reiterated the need for discipline to make the forthcoming December polls incident free. He said indiscipline was growing on Ghana motor roads with resultant carnages, and had also crept into the churches. Rev Tagoe encouraged Ghanaians to strive against anything that would hinder the development of the nation, abide by the rules in the race of life, spiritual discipline and positive thoughts, and feeding of the mind on virtues, righteousness and holiness no matter the challenges in life.
"We need to run according to the rules that God has given us. If we fail to run with the fear of God, we will never win the race and all will be a chasing after the wind. If we play by the rules, God will bless us all" Rev Tagoe said, and enjoined Ghanaians to continue to from where the late Minister left off. Born on June 3, 1952 at Agogo, in the Asante Akim North District in the Ashanti Region, the 56 year old chartered accountant and politician entered Parliament in 1997 and remained a parliamentarian until he died. The late Minister was one of the campaigners against the Union government (UNIGOV) concept put forward by General Acheampong's Supreme Military Council in 1978. He joined the New Patriotic Party when it was formed in 1992.
He became an MP in the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic after the 1996 parliamentary elections and has retained his seat since then.
He became a Minister in Kufuor's NPP government since 2001. He has so far held the portfolios of Local Government and Rural Development (2001-2003) and Education, Youth and Sports, and died holding the Finance and Economic Planning portfolio.
The body of Baah-Wiredu will be conveyed to Agogo in the Ashanti Region for burial on Saturday.
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