President Akufo-Addo has eulogised the late former Minister of Finance, Professor Kwesi Botchwey.
Describing him as an exceptional public servant, Akufo-Addo noted that Prof. Kwesi Botchwey discharged his duties with dignity and thoughtfulness.
Bemoaning the death of his friend, President Akufo-Addo in a Facebook page stated that “the death of my good friend, Dr. Kwesi Botchway, is a very sad development. My contemporary, in the mid-1960s, at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr. Botchway 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.
President Akufo-Addo in his post extended his condolences to the bereaved family and members of his political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“The thoughts and sympathies of my wife, Rebecca, the First Lady, and I are with his partner, 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.”
Former Minister of Finance, Professor Kwesi Botchwey died on November 19, 2022, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was receiving medical attention.
Prof. Botchwey, Ghana’s longest-serving Finance Minister, was born on September 3, 1944.
He served alongside Ghana’s longest-serving leader, the late former President Jerry John Rawlings.
He served during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military era (1982–1991) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) constitutional era (1992–1995).
Prof. Botchwey earned an LL.B. from the University of Ghana, an LL.M. from Yale Law School, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.
He held academic positions at the Universities of Ghana, Zambia, and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Dr. Botchwey’s previous work includes advising the World Bank on the 1997 World Development Report.
He served as a member and Chairman of the IMF’s Group of Independent Experts that carried out the first-ever independent assessment of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility. He also served as an advisor to the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the UNDP’s UN Special Initiative on Africa.
Source: The Independent Ghana