‘Our baobab tree has been uprooted, it's not easy but he left us with God’ – John Kumah’s wife

Apostle Mrs Lilian Kumah has praised his late husband, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah for his zealousness in the things of God, something she says will continue to comfort the family.

“Among all the things, he left us with God. One thing that he loved doing was about the work of God. Even in his last days, he changed a lot in the church, which cost him a lot, but he insisted that he wants the best for God,” she said.

The widow of the late Deputy Finance Minister said this in an interview on a local radio station on Monday, March 11.

Dr Kumah who until his death last Thursday, was a Deputy Finance Minister, and was survived by a wife and six children. He was 45 years old.

“It's not easy [for] both his mother and father, because it’s that baobab tree that we all enjoy some fresh air under that’s been uprooted,” she said, adding that “his motive was to train me as a strong woman, and he's accomplished that”.

Asked about how the family was dealing with the loss, Mrs Kumah said: “We want to remain strong to live to appreciate his memory because we know that death is just a transition.”

She expressed worry about speculations about the cause of his husband's death, and called on authorities, including the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to investigate the matter.

The widow stated that Dr Kumah was diagnosed with a blood-related disease sometime in August 2023 in Germany when she accompanied him for a medical check-up.

“Why is it that someone has been this bold to claim that he knows for a fact that a person like John Kumah who has served his country virtually all his life, was poisoned, while he was working for his country and party (New Patriotic Party, NPP), why should we sit down and not bring that person to book?" She asked.

“If there are laws in this country concerning such false claims, I think this is the time for the leadership of the Land to bring that wicked person to book to prove his false claims and to point out the persons who were involved in the poisoning of my late husband,” Mrs Kumah appealed.

Dr Kumah died at the Suhum Government Hospital in the Eastern Region, while arrangement was made to send him to Accra for onward planned trip to Germany for further medical attention.

The private legal practitioner and entrepreneur was the Managing Partner of the Aduaprokye Chambers – a law firm and served as the first Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP).

Under his leadership at NEIP, some 7,000 start-ups in 2018 under the Presidential Business Support programme received training, while about 1,350 beneficiaries also had funding support.

He had a Doctorate degree in Business Innovation from the Swiss Business School, Switzerland, and an Executive Master's degree in Business Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

He also earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics with Philosophy and Law at the University of Ghana following his professional Law Certificate from the Ghana School of Law in 2013. He was called to the Ghana Bar in 2013.

GNA