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K. B. Asante, others pay glowing tributes
to Baah-Wiredu
Accra, Sept. 25, GNA - Mr. K. B. Asante, a statesman, on
Thursday paid glowing tribute to the late Finance Minister,
Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, saying he was a great African
democrat.
He told a gathering at the launch of an organisation that
seeks to deepen the process towards free, fair and
transparent elections in December that, "as we seek to
consolidate our democracy we need to acknowledge that we
have lost a great African democrat in the person of Mr
Baah-Wiredu".
He therefore led the gathering to observe a minute of
silence in the honour of the late minister.
Mr Baah-Wiredu died on September 24 in a South African
hospital after being admitted for an ailment.
His death has come as a shock to the nation and drawn
glowing tributes from the presidency, business community and
both sides of the political divide.
Mr Asante said Africa did not have too many democrats and so
when one fell he needed to be given the due recognition.
"I am not a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), but I
can tell you that the few times I have met with Mr
Baah-Wiredu in forums, he portrayed himself as more of a
unifier than a partisan person," he said.
Mr. Frank Ocran, former Executive Director of State
Enterprises Commission and now with GIMPA, noted that Mr
Baah-Wiredu had always been a unifier, adding that his
funeral should be the bridging point towards a free, fair
and truly democratic election in December.
He said the fact that the whole nation was in a state of
mourning was enough testimony of the late minister's
unifying qualities.
"I first met him when he was the Accountant at Ghana Trade
Fair some years back and even as far back as then he
portrayed himself as a very committed professional and a
great politician as well," he said.
He noted that, it was unfortunate that in our culture the
greatness of people was only noticed when they died, saying
that Baah-Wiredu deserved more recognition than he ever got
both as a public servant and as minister.
Mrs Victoria Awua-Mensah, Executive Director of the newly
launched UNITAS Foundation (UF), which is dedicated to
educate Ghanaians in the run-up to the December polls to
ensure a violence-free vote, said she worked under Mr
Baah-Wiredu when he was minister of Education.
"My projects have been thrown out of gear because of his
demise in that he was still an integral part of my projects
until his death," she said.
GNA
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