First of all, who is a statesman? It is defined as a skilled, experienced, and respected political leader or figure.
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Pulse Picks: 4 statesmen deaths that hit Ghana hard in 2020
The year 2020 has been a difficult one for the entire world but Ghana’s situation got worsened by the demise of some very important statesmen whose losses hit the country very hard.
Jerry John Rawlings
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Many Ghanaians died during the year and were all relevant in one way or the other and served the country to the best of their abilities.
However, the death of the following people was deemed as a great loss to the nation and got Ghanaians sad and talking.
Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings
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The most recent death that is still fresh on the memories of Ghanaians is that of former President Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
He passed away at age 73 in the morning of Thursday, November 12 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, where he had been receiving treatment after a short illness.
Rawlings was born in 1947 to a Scottish father and a Ghanaian mother who died in September at the age of 101, just a few weeks before his death.
The revolutionary leader seized power twice in military coups but went on to bring democratic rule to Ghana in 1992.
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He won the elections in the first multiparty contest and was sworn in as president in 1993 and served two elected four-year terms, leaving office in 2001.
Rawlings remained many people’s favourite politician and served in various international diplomatic positions, including as the African Union’s representative in Somalia.
His death hit not only Ghana hard but the entire African continent hard.
Professor Jacob Plange-Rhule
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Renowned physician Prof. Jacob Plange-Rhule is dead
Pulse Ghana
Professor Jacob Plange-Rhule died on April 10, 2020, at the age of 62.
Before his death, he was a physician, academic, and Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He was also the Head of the Department of Physiology of the School of Medical Sciences in Kumasi in addition to being a consulting physician at the Department of Medicine of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
He founded the Hypertension and Renal Clinic at the KATH and headed it for more than two decades.
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Plange-Rhule was the former President of both the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ghana Kidney Association.
He died from COVID-19 at the University of Ghana Medical Centre in Accra on 10 April 2020, leaving behind his wife, Gyikua, a pediatrician, and three children.
He was laid to rest on Saturday 23 May 2020 at Gethsemane Memorial Gardens.
Ekow Hayford.
Ekow Quansah Hayford
Pulse Ghana
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Ekow Hayford was the New Patriotic Party member of parliament for Mfantseman Constituency in the Central Region until he was bloodily killed on 9 October 2020, while returning from a campaign tour.
He was shot dead by unknown gunmen on the Abeadze Dominase – Abeadze Duadzi – Mankessim Road at about 1:00 am on Friday.
Police investigations are still ongoing into his killing and some suspects have been arrested.
Before his sad death, Ekow Hayford was a member of the Judiciary Committee and Defence and interior committee in Parliament.
He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Apam Football Club.
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Hayford was born on 24 December 1970 in Mankessim. He was the only child of his mother, Madam Mena Aba Attah.
Between 1993 and 1998, Hayford served his first career as a police officer with the Ghana Police Service, within which period he rose to the rank of Corporal before he resigned and went into private business.
He was the Chief Executive Officer and Manager of MODISA Lodge and MANTRAC Ghana Limited respectively prior to going into politics.
Kojo Owusu Afriyie.
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Sir John
Pulse Ghana
Kojo Owusu Afriyie was born in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He attended Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School in Bekwai from where he obtained his GCE Ordinary level certificate. He proceeded to obtain his GCE Advanced level certificate from Konongo Odumase Secondary School in Konongo. He was admitted to study political science at the University of Ghana. He then enrolled at the Ghana School of Law where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and was subsequently admitted as a solicitor and counsel for the Supreme Court of Ghana.
Afriyie who was popularly known as ‘Sir John’ entered into private law practice in 1981.
During the John Agyekum Kufour administration, he was appointed head of legal services at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and was later made to act as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the corporation.
He served as the general secretary of the New Patriotic Party from 2010 to 2014 before losing his bid to secure a second term to Kwabena Agyapong.
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He was later appointed as the CEO of the Forestry Commission, a position he was holding before his unexpected death from Covid-19 on July 1, 2020.
May their souls rest in peace.
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