Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
7 November 2008
Former Minister of Finance, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu started his very final journey home yesterday with a state funeral.
Mourners from all walks of life including ministers of state, members of parliament, diplomats, traditional rulers and religious leaders, ordinary people thronged the State House, venue for the state funeral to pay their last respects to the minister who passed away last month after a short illness. He was a very popular man and the outpouring of grief at the funeral was genuine and devoid of partisan point-scoring.
President Kufuor, one of the chief mourners, led a government delegation including Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama to the funeral.
Tributes from the government, loved ones and relations were read after a burial service officiated by Rev. Titus Awotwe-Pratt, Superintendent Minister of the Dansoman Circuit of the Methodist Church, Ghana.
Rev. Awotwe-Pratt, in his sermon, said the late Baah-Wiredu had rendered good service to Ghana and humankind and "the time has come for him to have eternal rest with his Maker".
Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives, Mr. Papa Owusu Ankomah, in a tribute read for the government and people of Ghana, said Mr. Baah -Wiredu dedicated his life to the service of the nation and all humanity. This, he said, is evident in what had given birth to the "Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu Laptop for a Child Project" expected to take off next year.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu's final journey home continues today at his hometown of Agogo in the Ashanti Region, with a wake-keeping at the late minister's residence.
Tomorrow Saturday morning, the mortal remains of the late Minister, according to family sources would be interred on a piece of land he bought at a place called Russia, a suburb of the town, where he intended building a modern community library for his constituents.
After the burial, final funeral rites would take place at the Agogo Presbyterian Primary School Park.
On Sunday, there would be a thanksgiving service at the Presbyterian Methodist Church after which mourners would converge on the Agogo Presbyterian School Park later in the day.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu died on September 24, 2008 in a South African hospital where he had gone to seek medical attention. He is survived by his mother, wife Margaret and 12 children.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu's death shook the nation and brought political friend and foe together in grief. Even the most ardent and vitriolic critics of the government he served, put aside their politics and singled out the late minister for special praise.
As he departs for his final resting place, he leaves behind a country that is still uncertain about the outcome of the elections, which if he had been alive, he would have contested to be returned to parliament. But at least, he leaves with the blessing of a grateful nation, which in death, he helped unite, even if for a very short period...
A Tribute
Yesterday funeral activities started for the late Minister of Finance, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu. In the article below, veteran sports writer, Ken Bediako pays tribute and says the proposed national sports hall of fame should be named after him:
My considered opinion is that the best tribute Ghana's sporting fraternity can pay to the late Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah -Wiredu is to name the proposed national sports hall of fame after him.
I can say with some amount of authority that one of the greatest concerns of Baah-Wiredu when he was minister in charge of sports was to immortalize our past sporting heroes to serve as morale booster for the present generation. It would therefore be quite in place if the young man should be immortalized alongside the heroes he adored in his life time.
One of the first steps Baah -Wiredu took when he assumed the portfolio of Minister of Education and Sports in 2003 was to set up a national committee to acknowledge the significant contribution that the handful of men and women who have projected the image of Ghana through sports. I am proud to submit that I was a member of that group of seven headed by Dr Owusu Ansah former Chief Executive of the National Sports Council, who were given this onerous assignment
Our terms of reference were;
1 To identify for honour, sportsmen and sportswomen who have made significant contribution to Ghana's image in sports, and those who have contributed to the development and promotion of sports in Ghana.
2 To identify sports facilities, localities, and structures that can be named after distinguished personalities in sports, eg gates, lanes, inner and outer parts of fence walls, and other appointments at stadia, especially the Accra and Kumasi Sports Stadia.
3 To submit to the Ministry a proposal for the establishment and management of a museum(hall of fame) and sports library at the Accra Sports Stadium and the Kumasi Sports Stadium to stimulate tourism .
4. To undertake any other assignment which, in the opinion of the Committee, will help project the image of Ghana's sports heroes, and, by so doing, enhance sports development in the country.
I am privileged to reveal that it was the result of the committee's recommendations that the Accra stadium was named after OHENE DJAN, first Director of Sports who rose to become executive member of both CAF and FIFA. The Kumasi Stadium was also named after BABA YARA, one of the most fascinating footballers the nation has produced. affectionately called in his hey days" The King of Wingers". The Cape Coast Stadium was named after ROBERT MENSAH, rated Africa's number one goalkeeper in the 70s.
The sports hall at Accra Stadium was named after D.G.HATHIRAMANI a natuturalized Ghanaian of Indian origin who single handedly produced more than 60% of Ghana's table tennis stars spanning nearly four decades.
Baah- Wiredu was slowly implementing the numerous recommendations by the committee when a cabinet reshuffle took him to the Finance Ministry. He had incidentally just finished celebrating 100 years of Ghana Football in grand style culminating in a jubilee lecture by veteran coach and football administrator Ben Kwofie at Cape Coast, the birthplace of Ghana football
Unfortunately Baah-Wiiredu's departure from the Sports Ministry halted the implementation of the committee's recommendations and this was source of worry to him. I bumped into him at the Ohene Djan Stadium not too long ago and the topic for discussion was about the committee's report. He said he had been told by Prof Fobih, Minister of Education of Education and Sports that he had nothing about the committee's report in his file.
Looking visibly, concerned Baah- Wiredu pleaded that I made a copy available to the Ministry of Education which I did a couple of days later leaving it on the desk of Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State at the Ministry and I reported back to Baah-Wiredu much to his satisfaction displaying his trade mark infectious laugh.
It is my expectation that as suggestions pour from all corners of the country on the best memorial for arguably Ghana's most hard working minister, naming the sports hall of fame after Baah -Wiredu could also be considered.
May he rest in Eternal Peace.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Accra Mail. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
