Prez Kufuor, others bid Ferdinand Ayim final farewell

The burial service for the late Ferdinand Ayim, special assistant to the Minister of Tourism, is under way at the forecourt of the Okyenhene's palace in Kyebi.

The mortal remains of Mr. Ayim arrived at Kyebi shortly after 2 o'clock this morning.

The funeral rites are expected to continue till about 6pm. Interment would be at his father's hometown of Anyinam.

People from all walks of life attended the funeral which began at 6am.

The President, John Agyekum Kufuor, vice president, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Ministers of State and opposition members of parliament attended the funeral.

The President paid tribute to Mr. Ayim in which he described him as a hard worker.

The minority's delegation was led by their leader, Alban Bagbin. A memorial and thanksgiving service will be held at the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in Accra on Sunday, May 28.

Mr. Ayim left behind a wife and four children.

Ferdinand Ayim died on April 7 whiles on official assignment to see to the preparations for the Easter paragliding festival in the Kwahu area.

The four wheel drive in which he was traveling to Atibie collided with a tanker on the Osino-Anyinam road.

Apart from being the special assistant to Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, when he was at the Information and Presidential Affairs and Tourism ministries, Mr. Ayim also worked at the Ministry of Media Relations in the early days of the Kufuor administration.

Before taking up the appointments in the NPP government, Mr. Ayim was a journalist with the Statesman newspaper and he also won an award from the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for Best Investigative Journalist during the period he worked as a journalist.