Kojo Botsio Given State Burial

The mortal remains of Mr Kojo Botsio, a veteran politician and the last of the Big Six architects of Ghana's independence, was on Saturday laid to rest with full military honours at the Osu Cemetery after a memorial and thanksgiving service at the forecourt of the State House.

Thousands of mourners, including President John Agyekum Kufuor, Vice- President Aliu Mahama, Mr Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Isaac K. Abban, and stalwarts of other political parties, joined the bereaved family to pay their last respects to the illustrious son of Ghana.

In a tribute, Alhaji Mahama described Mr Botsio, who among others stood beside Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah on the eve of declaration of Ghana's Independence, as a nationalist who served the country with his wisdom, sight and might. Alhaji Mahama said Mr Botsio was a man who found himself in many capabilities and fields as he served as Minister of Education, Transport, Housing, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs.

He praised Mr Botsio's role in the development of education, especially university education, adding that "without his vision, a lot of professionals would never have been made".

Alhaji Mahama said the best tribute Ghanaians can give Mr Botsio is to give of their best and help build a new Ghana, with a vision that would ensure a positive change in people's lives and make functional the national aspiration of freedom and justice.

In a sermon, the Right Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, described Mr Botsio as a patriot of extra-ordinary calibre, a man of international proportions and a devout Catholic who took his relationship with God seriously and attended mass regularly. "Kojo Botsio fed at the altar of the Lord drawing power from God's word," he said, and urged Ghanaians to emulate the great virtues of the Lord Jesus Christ and be prayerful in all things.

The Rt. Rev. Palmer-Buckle asked Ghanaians to sacrifice their own comfort for others, saying those who died in Christ shall rise and stand on their feet again before God.

Other tributes came from the Convention People's Party, Mr John Tettegah, former Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation.

At the cemetery, the Right Reverend John Darko, Bishop of Sekondi, performed the committal service after which the last post was sounded followed by a 21-gun salute by the Fifth Battalion of Infantry Brigade of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The Vice-President laid a wreath on behalf on the government and people of Ghana while others were laid on behalf of the CPP, the wife, children, family, friends and sympathising individuals and organisations. The government presented two million cedis cash and drinks to the bereaved family.

Kojo Botsio, who died on February 6, this year, was born on February 21, 1916, at Winneba to Mr Edward Kojo Botsio of Elmina and Madam Ama Amina of Apam.

He attended the Catholic Primary and Middle Schools in Cape Coast. He later entered Adisadel College, where he sat for the Cambridge School Certificate and proceeded to Achimota College for his Teacher's Certificate 'A'.

Mr Botsio joined the foundation staff of St Augustine's College where he taught before obtaining his B.A. degree at Fourah Bay University College in Sierra Leone.

He also taught at the St Edward's Secondary School in Freetown before proceeding to Brasenose College, Oxford University, where he obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in Geography and Education. Mr Botsio and Dr. Nkrumah developed a close association and was involved in the struggle for Independence and held a number of position under Nkrumah's administration including Minister of Education and Social Welfare, Transport and Communication, Development, Housing, Trade, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs.

Mr Kojo Botsio was survived by a wife and two children.