In line with Akan custom and traditions, today, 11 October 2023, a one-week observance is being marked in honour of the memory of the late Mrs Theresa Kufuor, the second First Lady of the Fourth Republic of Ghana (2001 – 2009), who husband, His Excellency Mr J A Kufuor served as the president of the Republic from 2001 – 2009.
In that auspicious role as the First Lady, Mrs Kufuor distinguished herself in many ways in her services to the country and humanity. She had a strong commitment to the plight of poor children and their mothers. She was a proud recipient of the Papal Award Dame of St Gregory the Great, conferred on her by Pope Benedict XVI.
Mrs Kufuor started her education at the Roman Catholic Girls School in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and continued at the Catholic Convent, OLA, at Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana.
She later went to London in the United Kingdom, where she was educated as a registered general nurse in the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing, Edinburgh, Scotland.
She qualified as a midwife at Oxford University Hospital, Radcliff Infirmly. She was also a State Certified Midwife with a certificate in Premature Nursing from the Royal College of Nursing in London. Mrs Kufuor was the first matron of the Cocoa Clinic in Accra.
Two of the notable traits of Mrs Kufuor were humility and compassion for the needy and the vulnerable. Despite having been the first lady of Ghana for eight years, she maintained a low profile in the political arena.
However, in the background, she played tremendous roles, especially in supporting women, children and the vulnerable.
In line with her passion for the care of children and mothers, Mrs Kufuor founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF). It was a non-governmental organisation that worked in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission diseases.
In addition, she built three primary schools at Nyanyano, Kotobabi, and Kuntunse for the communities and supplied a mammogram for the Sunyani Hospital.
Mrs Kufuor was a devout Catholic and was for a long time a member of the King Parish Choir, Accra. The tremendous success of the Kufuor Administration is a tribute to the great support Mrs Kufuor offered her husband and the nation.
–Anane Agyei,
Executive Director, Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development
busiainstitute@gmail.com
