Former Speaker Ala-Adjetey laid to rest

The mortal remains of the late Peter Ala-Adjetey, a celebrated lawyer and former Speaker of Parliament, were on Friday laid to rest at La cemetery in Accra.

This was preceded by a state funeral service at the forecourt of Parliament House.

President John Agyekum Kufuor and his wife, Theresa, Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and his wife Rahmatu, Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi Hughes, Speaker of Parliament, Chief Justice Georgina Theodore Wood, Ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Judiciary, were among the huge crowd of mourners who attended.

Also present were former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu as well as the presidential candidates of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

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Numerous tributes were paid to his memory and the common theme, which ran through them was the acknowledgement of his exceptional academic brilliance, firmness, sense of courage, fairness and significant contribution to Ghana' democracy.

President Kufuor, in a eulogy, read by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Joe Ghartey, said the late Speaker lived a life worth celebrating.

“A man of many parts, in his chosen profession – law, he achieved greatness. In his calling - politics, he achieved greatness. As a legislator, he achieved greatness and also as a statesman, he achieved greatness.”

He said his carefully thought out arguments, his clarity of thought, as well as speech, led him to stand out, undeniably tall among his peers.

President Kufuor noted the landmark cases he led in court at the return of the country to constitutional rule in 1992, which, he said, afforded the Supreme Court the opportunity to give meaning to various provisions of the Constitution and establish the underlying fundamental principles of democratic governance in the body politic.

Among these were the case of the NPP versus the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Corporation as a state-owned institution was obliged to present political parties with equal opportunity to present their views on state sponsored television and the NPP versus the Inspector General of Police, where clarity was given on the right to freedom of assembly.

“We as a nation owe a debt of gratitude to all the actors of this stage of the nation's development and for the recognition of and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms that we enjoy today we take for granted, a stage upon which Peter Ala Adjetey once again stood tall.”

On his part, Mr Sekyi Hughes said the late Speaker lived and demonstrated fairness, objectivity and impartiality in Parliament.

Additionally, he introduced discipline, time-management and time-consciousness to the House. The discipline he sought in the House he imposed on himself first.

The Most Reverend Dr Justice Offei Akrofi, Anglican Archbishop who officiated, asked Ghanaians to be inspired by the life of the late Ala Adjetey to demonstrate love for one another.

Aged 76, he left behind a wife and 10 children.