BAAH-WIREDU LAID TO REST (SPREAD)

A grand burial and funeral ceremony was held last Saturday for the late Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, in his native town of Agogo in the Asante Akim North District in the Ashanti Region.
As if nature was collaborating with the bereaved family, friends and sympathisers to offer Baah-Wiredu the deserving farewell and usher him into the other world, the weather, the atmosphere and the environment were all perfect for that an eventful event.
As early as 4.00 a.m. mourners from far and near had started trooping into Agogo, just as they had done during the one-week observance of his death.
All funerals in the surrounding communities, such as Nyaaboo, Juansa, Hwidiem, Konongo and Kyekyebiase, were suspended last Saturday to enable as many sympathisers as possible to travel to Agogo to mourn their departed Member of Parliament.
As President J.A. Kufuor stated in his tribute to the late Finance Minister, who had served him wholeheartedly, "Even though it cannot be said that he lived his full allotment, having died a long way off our Biblically allotted 70 years, he packed enough achievements into his 56 years to last two lifetimes. If he would have any anxiety about any incomplete business, it would probably be about his aged mother. I recall a recent trip to Agogo when his mother said to me that she hoped when she died I would help Kwadwo to bury her. With God's help, I promised that I would discharge that responsibility."
The wailing for the departed Finance Minister intensified when pallbearers, made up of the security officers, lifted the casket containing his mortal remains at 11.30 a.m. and headed for the cemetery.
Among the chiefs who flooded the funeral grounds were the Paramount Chief of the Agogo Traditional Area, Nana Akuoko Sarpong; the Konongohene, Nana Batafo Akyampong Nti; the Paramount Chef of the Kwamang Traditional Area, Nana Ntori Nimpa II; the Paramount Chief of the Juansah Traditional Area, Nana Agyemang Teatoa; the Chief of Agric- Nsema, Nana Nkansa Boadu, and the Chief of Duase, Nana Owusu Banahene.
Also present to mourn with the bereaved family was a delegation from the Graphic Communications Group Limited, led by the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, who donated GH¢500 on behalf of the company to offset some of the expenses incurred by the family.
The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, their wives, as well as the Minister of Fisheries, Mrs Gladys Asmah, were also deeply involved in the funeral ceremony, as they sat through the entire ceremony.
The mourners mobbed President Kufuor and his wife, the Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu Ansah, and Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, when they arrived at the funeral grounds at 3.32 p.m.
President Kufuor donated GH¢10,000 as his personal contribution to support the bereaved family.