The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the John A. Kufuor Foundation, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has paid glowing tribute to former First Lady Theresa Kufuor following her demise on Sunday, October 1.
Prof Agyeman-Duah says she deserves every respect and honour any First Lady must be accorded.
The wife of former President John Agyekum Kufuor died on Sunday after a long battle with illness.
She served as Ghana’s First Lady between 2001 and 2009 while Mr Kufuor was President.
Eulogising her on TV3‘s Ghana Tonight on Monday, October 2 from his base in the United States, Prof Agyeman-Duah said Madam Theresa was not the kind in the public eye all the time despite her rich political family background. Her brother was former Senior Minister JH Mensah.
“I think what we can say about her is that in public life she conducted herself with grace and respect and I think it is that grace and respect that really carved the character that we know of her,” he told host Alfred Ocansey.
“She was not a politician but her husband who was and still is a politician was called a Gentle Giant because of his stature and in politics he truly became a Gentle Giant.
“So, if you are married to a ‘gentle giant’, it’s not easy to kind of assert yourself that much but I think on a more serious note, Madam Theresa deserves every respect and honour any First Lady deserves because without her perhaps her husband will not be a successful president that so many people are clamouring for.”
Prof Agyeman-Duah noted that Mrs Kufuor must be a “part of the political history anytime we talk about President Kufuor in Ghanaian politics”.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has instructed that all flags across the nation and in Ghana’s missions abroad must fly at half-mast.
This is to take seven days from Monday, October 2 to Sunday, October 8.
President Akufo-Addo said the deceased former First Lady brought “great” dignity to the position.
“She was a composed and articulate First Lady, polyglot, fluent in several languages including Ewe, who brought great dignity to the position.
“I knew several members of her family, especially her celebrated brother, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to know her too.
“Her warmth, kindness and grace were exceptional. She bore the vicissitudes of life with great stoicism and an unshakeable belief in the sovereignty of Almighty God.”