A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Otchere-Darko has eulogized the late former Minister of Finance Kwesi Botchwey.
In a tweet, Mr Otchere-Darko said “his leadership and commitment to the structural changes to our economy in the late 80s were critical and the impact still with us today. May he rest in perpetual peace.”
The 78-year-old died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on Saturday, November 19 after a short illness.
Prof Botchwey served in the Rawlings government under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military regime and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) civilian reign as the Secretary for Finance and Minister of Finance and Economic Planning respectively.
He served between 1982 and 1995, becoming the longest-serving finance minister.
Kwesi B, as he was affectionately called, attended Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School before proceeding to the University of Ghana to pursue an LLB. He was at the Yale Law School for his LLM and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School for his doctorate.
He was a Professor of Practice in Development Economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University at the time of his demise.
Prof Botchwey was a key member of the NDC, appointed after the first round defeat of John Dramani Mahama, then in government, in the 2016 presidential elections to oversee a restructuring and regrouping of the party.
The report of his committee became a contentious subject as some members of the party demanded its publication for a way forward into subsequent elections.
Prof Botchwey, on the international stage, served as an Advisor to the World Bank on the 1997 World Development Report, UNDP’s UN Special Initiative on Africa and a Member and Chairman of International Monetary Fund’s Group of Independent Experts who conducted the first ever external evaluation of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility.
