This month has seen the death of over five personalities who have contributed immensely to the furtherance of the 4th Republic in Ghana.
We, at Pulse Ghana, took a look at some of these fallen heroes that passed on in October 2023.
Theresa Kufour: The wife of former Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufour passed on October 1 after a short illness in Accra. Theresa Kufuor served as Ghana’s First Lady from 2001 to 2009 when her husband was the country’s head of state.
John and Theresa were blessed with five children - J. Addo Kufuor, Nana Ama Gyamfi, Saah Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor and Owusu Afriyie Kufuor. They also have eight grandchildren.
The couple first met at a Republic Day Anniversary Dance in London in 1961 and began dating before tying the knot in 1962.
Before becoming the First Lady, Theresa, whose surname used to be Mensah before she inherited that of her husband, workled as a nurse and midwife.
She is also credited with pushing for policy changes in the Government's white paper on Educational Reforms that sought to implement Free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE) programme.
Theresa schooled at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta in the Volta Region before moving to London, where she became a Registered General Nurse, in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing, Edinburgh, Scotland.
She continued her ecucation at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford and Paddington General Hospital, London, attaining a State Certified Midwife Certificate in Premature Nursing.
E.T. Mensah: Enoch Teye Mensah was the former Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram in the Greater Accra Region. He died in South Africa after a short illness.
During the time of the PNDC military regime in Ghana, he was the long-time Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), akin to being the Mayor of the City of Accra. He joined the National Democratic Congress when it was formed in 1992.
He also stood for the parliamentary election in 1996 and was elected MP for the Ningo-Prampram constituency, holding the seat for almost two decades.
After the NDC lost the 2000 elections, he continued as a member of parliament. Mensah lost the NDC primaries to Sam George on 21 November 2015.
He once served as the Minority Chief Whip in parliament prior to the Ghanaian parliamentary election in 2008. In January 2009, he became the Majority Chief Whip in Parliament.
Akoto Ampaw: Human rights activist and popular Ghanaian lawyer Akoto Ampaw died on October 20 at the University of Ghana Medical Center in Accra.
He was the lawyer for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2020 election petition.
Known as ‘Che Che’ right from his student days at the University of Ghana, Mr. Ampaw was part of the New Patriotic Party’s legal team in the Electoral Petition of 2013.
He is a partner of Akufo-Addo’s law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co.
Lawyer Ampaw has an impeccable legacy in the legal fraternity especially championing human rights campaigns and fair justice.
Felix Owusu-Adjapong: Hon. Felix Owusu-Adjapong had a distinguished political career, serving as a Minister during the Kufuor administration. He was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 1996 and continued to represent his constituents in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Parliaments.
In 2007, he made a significant move by resigning from his ministerial role to contest in the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential race, albeit without success. Following this, he did not seek re-election as a parliamentary candidate in the 2008 general elections, and Joseph Ampomah Bosompem secured the seat for the NPP.