Veep attends funeral of Prof. Kwapong
Vice-President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, last Saturday led a government delegation to join hundreds of mourners at the burial service of Professor Alexander Adum Kwapong, the first Ghanaian Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
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Other dignitaries who were at the service were former President, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, a representative of former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, members of the Council of State, former ministers of state, members of the Diplomatic Corps and an aspiring flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akuffo Addo.
The ceremony also attracted a large number of people from academic circles.
According to the family of the deceased, the late professor would be given a private burial in-line with their customs and tradition.
The Vice-President, who was accompanied by his spouse, Matilda laid a wreath in memory of the late professor, followed by the deceased’s family, officials of the University of Ghana and the Council of State.
Sermon
At the burial service held at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana last Saturday, a Presbyterian clergyman at the Accra Ridge Church, Reverend Dr Jonathan Mensah, in a sermon, called on Christians to always glorify God for what He had entrusted into their hands.
“As Christians, we are only stewards of God’s property and one day, we would be called upon to render account of all that we have been given by the Lord,” he said.
Rev. Dr Mensah urged Christians to emulate people in the Bible who were given talents to work with and who managed to increase those God-given talents to their own benefit.
Profile
Prof. Kwapong, who died at 87 on August 9, 2014, was born at Akropong Akuapem in the Eastern Region to the late Emmanuel Adum Kwapong and Theophilia Amma Opokua Kwapong.
At various times, he served as the Vice-Rector for Planning and Development of the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan; Lester Pearson Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and Director, African Programmes (Distance Learning) of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
He was also a former Chairman of the Council of State from 2001-2005.
He was educated at the Achimota School and proceeded to Kings College, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom where he read Classics and graduated with First Class Honours in 1951.
He joined the University of Ghana in 1953 where he rose from the ranks of a lecturer and later became the Vice Chancellor in 1966 where he served for 11 years. He received his Ph.D. in Classics in 1957 and became a full professor in 1962
Prof. Kwapong was survived by his wife, Evelyn, six daughters and eight grandchildren.
Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh