President Akufo-Addo’s Tribute To Prof. Kwesi Botchwey

The death of my good friend, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, is a very sad development.

My contemporary, in the mid-1960s, at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr. Botchwey was a longstanding public servant, who discharged his duties thoughtfully and with dignity, and became Ghana’s longest-serving Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.

A Ghanaian patriot and a committed Pan-Africanist, politics was, for him, an avenue to serve his nation and continent, not a vehicle for venting his personal dislikes and embarking on vendettas against others.

We subscribed, in our adult lives, to different ideological persuasions, differences that did not diminish the respect we had for each other or for our friendship.

I will miss him and his urbane, civilized conduct and demeanour.

The thoughts and sympathies of my wife, Rebecca, the First Lady, and I are with his partner, Gwendy, children and family.

I extend my deepest condolences to them, and also to the National Democratic Congress, of which he was a prominent and much respected member.

Ghana has lost a fine gentleman and exceptional public servant. May his soul rest in perfect peace in the Bosom of the Almighty until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again.

Amen!

–

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

Accra, Ghana 20th December 2022 (The writer is the President of the Republic).