President Akufo-Addo's tribute to Theresa Kufuor: "She was a composed and articulate First Lady"

On that fateful night of Sunday 1 October, I had gone to the residence of President Kufuor in Peduase to, as it were, catch up with him, since it had been a while I had visited him at his residence.

At the end of our discussion, he gave me the unpleasant news, one he had dreaded for some time. His beloved wife, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, our nation’s former First Lady, had died that
morning. I was deeply saddened by the news of her death.

Her passing reminds me keenly of human mortality, that is, that Almighty God will come for each and every one of us at the appropriate time. I am grateful to Providence that our lives crossed. She fought a good fight, and deserves the victor’s crown. Hers was a life well-lived.

Mama Theresa, as she was affectionately called by most people, Aba to me, was a devoted companion of President Kufuor throughout their 61 years of marriage. She was an invaluable and constant source of advice, encouragement and prayers for him.

Member of a well-known family from Odumase, in the Bono Region, and Bantama in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, sister of the renowned statesman, the late J H Mensah, and aunt of President Kufuor’s Secretary, the brilliant diplomat, Ambassador D K Osei, she was politically astute, and was a major contributor to her husband’s political success.

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 unshakable belief in the sovereignty of Almighty God. My wife, Rebecca, the First Lady, our family and I will miss her a lot.

We extend our deepest condolences to President Kufuor, their children, grandchildren, and their families on their irreplaceable loss.

We wish her a peaceful place of abode in the Bosom of the Almighty, as she deserves, until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again. Amen!!