Tributes pour in as nation mourns Theresa Kufuor, former 1st lady 

Moving tributes are pouring in for former First Lady Mrs. Theresa Kufuor who died on Sunday, October 1, 2023.

Mrs Kufuor, the wife of former President John Agyekum Kufuor died at her home in Peduase aged 87.

She served as First Lady from 2001 to 2009 and had been married to former President Kufuor for 61 years.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed that all national flags should fly at half-mast from Monday, October 2, 2023, to Sunday, October 8, 2023, in her honour.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed condolences to former President John Agyekum Kufuor and his family on the passing of the former First Lady, Theresa Kufuor.

“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,” he said in a statement issued on Monday, October 2.

President Akufo-Addo described the late Theresa as a composed and articulate First Lady.

“She was politically astute and was a major contributor to her husband’s political success.

“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,” the President wrote.

The tribute acknowledged the late Theresa as an invaluable and constant source of advice, encouragement and prayers for former President Kufuor.

“My wife, Rebecca, the First Lady, and I will miss her a lot,” the President mourned.

“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!!”

Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said “Samira and I are exceedingly pained by the death of a woman we all considered a major light in our personal and national lives.

“I extend my condolences to President Kufuor, the immediate family,  and the nation at large.

“May mama Theresa’s beautiful soul rest in perfect peace.”

The New Patriotic Party (NPP)  also eulogised Mrs Kufuor and directed for its flags to fly at half-mast across the country to mourn her passing.

The NPP in a statement signed and issued on Moday by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong stated that “Mrs Kufuor was a beacon for female advancement, fostering initiatives to inspire and empower both young and adult females in various facets of life.

“The members of the ruling NPP, together with all Ghanaians whose lives were positively touched by her, extend our deepest condolences to former President John Agyekum Kufuor, their children, and the entire family.”

“We stand united with you in this time of sorrow, praying that the Almighty God grants all of us the fortitude to bear this great loss. In tribute to the memory of the late Mrs Kufuor, the NPP directs that all Party flags across the country be flown at half-mast for the next seven days. May her gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace until we meet again on the resurrection morning.”

Meanwhile, Dr Kwabena Osei-Adubofour, a special aide and spokesman for former President John Agyekum Kufuor, has disclosed that the octogenarian is making an encouraging recovery after the demise of his wife.

He said the former president is gradually recovering and is asking the general public to keep the family in their thoughts and prayers.

“It was very sad and shocking, and it happened yesterday late in the afternoon and the old man [former president Kufuor] did not take it kindly at all because it was a shock to him but this morning, I’ve seen that he has recovered to some extent from the shock,” Dr. Osei-Adubofour said.

“You know, he is old enough to understand death and normally when people come to inform us about the bereavement of other people, he kept on saying death is a journey everyone will embark on, and so he understands and had tuned his mind to it despite that the initial occurrence was very serious and shocking.”

Dr. Osei-Adubofour further pleaded with persons wishing to visit to commiserate with the family to start doing so from Tuesday in order to afford the family some time to put in the necessary logistics to receive them.

“We welcome people coming to show their love and condolences, but I will plead with them to start it tomorrow because it happened less than 24 hours ago and we need to do some logistical work like putting up some canopies and all that so let them give us free time today, and then they can start coming tomorrow.”

The retired midwife was born on the 25 of October 1935.

Theresa Kufuor started her education at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana. She later went to London, where she was educated as a Registered General Nurse, in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing. Edinburgh, Scotland.

After further study at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford and Paddington General Hospital, London, she qualified as a State Certified Midwife with a Certificate in Premature Nursing.

Theresa married John Kufuor when he was at age 23 after they met at a Republic Day Anniversary Dance in London in 1961. They got married in 1962.

She had five children with John Kufuor, former president of Ghana; J. Addo Kufuor, Nana Ama Gyamfi, Saah Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor and Owusu Afriyie Kufuor. She was a mother of five, and a grandmother of eight. She was a devout Roman Catholic.

Despite being the first lady of Ghana for eight years between 2001 and 2009, she managed to maintain a low profile in the political arena.

In 2007 she pushed for policy changes in the Government’s white paper on Educational Reforms towards the implementation of UNESCO’s Free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) program for kindergarten children.

She founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), a non-governmental organisation operating in Ghana and Canada that supports work in prevention of mother to child transmission.