We must treat our departed statesmen with more respect - Addo-Kufuor

Former Defense Minister under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Kwame Addo-Kufuor has urged government and the general public to treat departed statesmen with respect, for the services rendered to the country during their life time.

Using the poor state of Asomdwee Park, a place earmarked for the internment of the first sitting president to die as an example; Mr. Addo-Kufuor argued that more can be done for departed statesmen.

As the country marks the 6th anniversary of the demise of President John Evans Atta Mills, it is alleged that his successors appear to have neglected his final resting place, reopening the debate on whether his body should be returned to his family for a befitting burial.

Speaking at the Accra International Conference Center where the laying in state of the late former Vice President, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur is being held, the former defense minister alleged that the “short-term memory span” of Ghanaians allowed people to be mourn only for a short period and their memories forgotten after they have been buried.



According to him, services rendered by notable statesmen and people to the country should be enough to speak for them, long after their demise.

“Ghanaians are very emotional. When you die everybody will weep, but within a year you have been forgotten. I hope that will change and I hope government will pay more attention to Asomdwee Park. Mills was a very close friend and I think we should show some respect. The people that have served the country and have moved on deserve respect. We need to show them that.”

Already family, friends, dignitaries and sympathizers have trooped to the Conference Center to pay their last respect to the late vice president of the republic, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur who is expected to be buried at the military cemetery at Burma Camp in Accra.

Mr Amissah-Arthur died on Friday, June 29 after collapsing at the Air Force Gym at Burma Camp. He was survived by his wife Matilda Amissah-Arthur and two children.