Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu goes home

Preparations are ongoing at Asante-Akim Agogo in the Ashanti region for the final funeral rites of the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, who died in South Africa last September.

Hon Baah-Wiredu's final home journey will be preceded by a state funeral at the forecourt of Parliament House today after which the corpse would be sent to Agogo, his hometown, for the final funeral rites which begins tomorrow.

Baah-Wiredu died in a South African hospital where he had gone to seek medical attention.

He is survived by his mother, wife Margaret and 12 children.

When DAILY GUIDE visited Agogo on Tuesday, the town had already been tidied up with weeds cleared and gutters and drainages de-silted.

Houses and places selected for accommodating and hosting mourners had also been given a facelift through painting and other renovation works.

A nephew of the deceased who is also the spokesperson for the family, Tony Mensah, briefed the paper on the funeral arrangements, indicated that the body of the late Finance Minister would arrive in Agogo on Thursday night.

He said on Friday there would be wake-keeping at the late minister's residence at Agogo New Town where the body would be laid in state.

The spokesperson disclosed that the mortal remains would not be interred at the town's public cemetery, but rather on a piece of land the late Baah-Wiredu bought at Russia, a suburb of the town, where he intended building a modern community library for the people.

He explained that the family decided to do the burial on the land because some individuals had pledged to build the library complex and name it after the man who undoubtedly paid his dues not only to his party but the nation as a whole.

Mr. Mensah revealed that after the burial, the final funeral rites would take place at the Agogo Presbyterian Primary School Park from 12 noon.

He said on Sunday, there would be a thanksgiving service at the Presbyterian Methodist Church after which mourners would converge on the Agogo Presbyterian School Park later in the day.

The deceased's nephew indicated that arrangements had been made for accommodation, food, drinks, and parking lots among others to ensure the comfort of mourners.

He pointed out that unlike the one-week celebration where people had the opportunity of filming and taking shots of proceedings, this time around there would be restrictions.

Mr. Mensah stated that people, including media personnel, who want to film and take photographs of proceedings should first seek permission from the family.

He added that those who would fail to secure accreditation from the family should stay away because “we'll not allow that to happen again”.

The spokesperson added that people seeking to sell any item related to the late Finance Minister should also seek authorization from the family before doing so or risk having such items seized.

President Kufuor, who is among the long list of chief mourners, is expected to lead the government delegation to the funeral.