Theresa Aba Kufuor (née Mensah), a brief history of a life well lived

Theresa Aba Mensah was born on 25 October 1935 in Kumasi. She was a child of the late Joseph Henry Mensah (Snr), a colonial civil servant originally from Elmina.

Her mother, Rose Mensah (née Maame Abena Tabuaa), was the daughter of the Banmuhene of Sunyani Domase, Nana Kofi Amoah, and Obaapanyin Yaa Donkor. Maame sold United African Company textiles. Theresa – or Aba, as she was popularly known – was the seventh of the ten children born to the couple who survived to adulthood.

The devoutly Catholic family settled in a large house in the Adum business district of Kumasi. Theresa started her primary schooling at St Benedict’s and continued at Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) girls’ boarding school in the Volta Region. After Standard 7, she declined to complete the forms that would have allowed her to continue her studies there, and chose instead to work at Komfo Anokye Hospital as a staff nurse.

She then decided to improve her nursing qualifications. Between 1958 and 1961 she trained as a registered general nurse at the Edinburgh Southern Hospitals School of Nursing. She completed her Midwifery (Part I) in Oxford in 1962, followed by Part II at Paddington General Hospital in London. She also undertook a course in premature baby nursing in 1963 and obtained a certificate in advanced nursing administration from the Royal College of Nursing in 1980.

She met John Agyekum Kufuor at a Republic Day dance in London. He had recently been called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn and was planning to move on to Exeter College, Oxford, to further his studies. When they saw each other again in Oxford, they renewed their acquaintance and stayed friends.

The couple became engaged and were married at the Brompton Oratory in London in 1962. They began their married life in Oxford and after completing their studies they moved to north London. The couple had three children in quick succession: John, Anne-Marie and Helen. In 1965 the family returned to Ghana and Theresa began working at Tech Hospital on the campus of the University of Science and Technology. A fourth child, a son named Edward, arrived in 1968.

In 1969 John Kufuor stood for election on the ticket of the Progress Party and became a Member of Parliament, so the family moved to Accra. He was appointed a deputy minister of foreign affairs. Theresa focused on supporting him and raising her children.

After the overthrow of the Progress Party government of Kofi Abrefa Busia by the National Redemption Council on 13 January 1972, John Kufuor entered detention at Ussher Fort in Accra as Theresa was expecting her fifth child. She paid regular visits to her husband in detention and worked hard to make a new life for herself and her four young children in a small house in Kanda, drawing strength from her Catholic faith.

In 1972 Theresa had her last child, a boy named Victor Kofi Owusu Afriyie Mensah.

John Kufuor was released from prison after 15 months. And in mid-1973 Theresa began working as the first matron of the newly established Cocoa Clinic.

In 1979, Theresa’s husband returned to Parliament as the deputy minority leader. Theresa continued to work full-time and support her husband until Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings seized power in 1981. Life became difficult, so the couple decided to send the older children to London for safety. Now supporting her family on two continents, Mrs Kufuor left Cocoa Clinic and became self-employed.

In 1992 it was decided that Ghana would return to democratic rule and Theresa supported her husband in all his campaigning. Although he lost to Jerry Rawlings in the 1996 presidential election, he made another attempt in 2000 and she became the First Lady on 7 January 2001.

As a qualified nurse, Theresa chose to focus on matters with a bearing on the lives and welfare of women and children, from the need for vocational training and community-run crèches, to micro-enterprise opportunities that could lead to self-sufficiency.

She set up a non-governmental organisation, the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), to assist women and children in deprived areas. Her achievements include the establishment of development centres in underdeveloped parts of Accra such as Kotobabi and Amasaman. She facilitated the acquisition and installation of a mammogram machine for Sunyani General Hospital and sponsored training in soap-making, dress-making and shea butter processing in areas such as Kumasi, Koforidua and the then three Northern regions.

The foundation also built and equipped a bakery in Nsawam.

She spoke tirelessly about the need to help curb the spread of HIV/Aids in Africa by setting targets on prevention, treatment, care and support. She also worked behind the scenes to influence government policy in areas such as free school feeding, free medical care for pregnant women and free, compulsory and universal basic education.

After her husband left office, Theresa continued her advocacy and support work through the MCCDF.

In 2010, the Vatican bestowed on her the award of Papal Dame of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great.

Theresa Kufuor retired from public life in 2019 due to ill-health. She passed away peacefully at the family house in Peduase on 1 October 2023.

She is survived by her husband, one sister, all five of her children and 13 grandchildren.

Theresa Aba Kufuor

Born 25 October 1935

Died 1 October 2023

Author: The family