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Ghanaian statesmen lost so far in 2018
Ghanaian statesmen lost so far in 2018

Ghanaian statesmen lost so far in 2018

Spanning from politics to academia, the year 2018 has so far taken away some prominent Ghanian legends, leaving many tongues wagging and many hearts grieving. 

This year has perhaps, drained much of our tears as a nation. 

Although many Ghanaians entered the year with so many plans, hopes and aspirations; the year has so far rather swallowed, shuttered and taken away the joy of many, considering the rate at which the country continues to lose some of its great sons and daughters to the call of death. 

Mr Kofi Annan, who we just buried last Thursday as well as Professor Atukwei Okai who was also buried on last Friday are part of the tall list of these great sons and daughters who have contributed enormously to the growth of Ghana, Africa and the world as a whole.

Even before these industrious sons fell to the sword of death, others such as a renowned diplomat, Mr K.B.Asante, Mr Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur,  Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, and V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe had all followed suit. 

The question is: what is happening, where can we find answers and who will end all these deaths as we continue to sing dirges as a nation? Have the younger ones finished receiving impactions from these men before they respond to their creator's call? Although we are heartbroken with their passing away, we take consolation from the outstanding legacies that they have left for us. 

We salute you, industrious sons of Mother Ghana.

1. Kofi Atta Annan

Kofi Annan

Mr Kofi Annan, a former United Nations Secretary-General and a global icon died on Sunday, September 18 in the Swiss capital, Berne, after a short illness.

Adored as an international hero, news of his passing brought enormous pain not only to Ghanaians but the entire world. 

He was born on April 8, 1938, in Kumasi.

Mr Annan served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006.

As the Secretary-General, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy; worked to combat HIV, especially in Africa; and launched the UN Global Compact.

He was a passionate advocate of human rights, and a strong believer in the universal values of equality, tolerance and human dignity, a wonderful man of peace and principles, whose works transformed and contributed to global peace.

2. Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur

Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah- Arthur

Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur was the fifth Vice-President of Ghana under the Fourth Republic. He died on June 29 at age 67 during his routine workout at a gym in Accra. He had previously served as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009 to 2012.

He was born in Cape Coast, Central Region, in April 1951. 

3. V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe

V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe

Mr Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur Charles (V.C.R.A.C.) Crabbe passed away on Friday morning, September 7, 2018.

Justice Crabbe was born on October 29, 1923, at Ussher town in Accra and had his early education at the Government Junior and Senior Boys Schools in Accra.

The late retired Supreme Court judge before his death he was a Professor of Law at Mountcrest University College in Accra.

Crabbe was Special Commissioner to the 1968 Constitutional Commission; Legislative Draftsmen to the 1969 Constituent Assembly which drafted the 1969 Constitution of Ghana.

similarly, he was the Chairman of the 1979 Constituent Assembly and drafted the 1979 Constitution of Ghana.

4. J.H. Mensah

J.H. Mensah

On July 12, 2018, Ghana lost a veteran politician and a statesman, Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, popularly known as J.H. Mensah at age 89.

J.H. Mensah was a leader amongst a generation of Ghanaian public servants who stewarded the country through independence and worked tirelessly to deliver on the hopes and aspirations of his people.

He served as a Senior Minister in the Kufuor-led administration (2005-2006)

5. K.B.Asante  

K.B. Asante

Also, on January 22, this year, Mr Kwaku Baprui Asante, a writer, politician, and a diplomate passed on. 

Mr K. B. Asante was born on March 26, 1924.

He was the Secretary to Ghana's First President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Asante served under most Heads of States in Ghana, starting from Nkrumah, and also served as the Principal Secretary at African Affairs Secretariat from 1960 to 1966.

6. Professor Atukwei John Okai

Atukwei John Okai

Atukwei Okai was born on March 15, 1941, in Accra, Ghana. He died on July 13, 2018.

He was a poet, cultural activist and academics. He was also the Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA) and former president of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW).

Atukwei Okai is the author of the widely-acclaimed “The Oath of the Fontonfrom and Other Poems, published in 1971 by Simon & Schuster in New York.

Atukwei Okai was not just an extraordinary wordsmith; culturally he was an institution. In him all the beauty, the pomp, and grace of poetry dwelt.

Ghana would forever remain indebted to him for being one of the nation’s cultural experts, an ambassador who represented Ghana in many parts of the world through the translation of his works into several languages, including Russian, Spanish, German, Arabic, French, and Italy.

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