| Location | Ghana |
| Age | 56 years |
| Cause of Death | Pneumonia |
| Date of Birth | 03/06/1952 |
| Date of Death | 24/09/2008 |
| Visitors | 1,401 since 26/09/2008 |
| Creator |
Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu was born in 1952 at Agogo. He attended the University of Ghana from 1974-1977. He is married with 6 children.
He has been the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for the Asante Akim North Constituency since 1997. He is a Christian by religion.
Positions held:
2006-2008 Minister of Finance & Economic Planning
2006 Millennium Challenge Account Board Member
2006 Privileges Committee Member
2006 Youth, Sport and Culture Committee Member
2005 Asante Akim North Constituency Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North
2001-2006 Minister of Local Government, Rural Development & Environment
2001-2004 Asante Akim North Constituency Member of Parliament
1996-2000 Asante Akim North Constituency Member of Parliament
1996 Asante Wiredu and Associates Partner - Asante Wiredu and Associates
1981-1985 Chartered Accountant
1974 -1977 University of Ghana Degree in B.Sc. Administration
Kwadwo Baah Wiredu is a Ghanaian politician and a chartered accountant. He has been a Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Ghana since January 1997 and has been a Minister in the Kufuor government since 2001. He is reported to have passed away on 24th September 2008 in South Africa after a short illness
Early life and education
Baah Wiredu was born in Asante Akim Agogo. He started his secondary education at the Kumasi High School, Kumasi in 1967. He obtained the GCE Ordinary Level Certificate in 1972.
He had his sixth form education at Prempeh College, also in Kumasi. Baah Wiredu proceeded to the University of Ghana in 1974 and obtained a B.Sc. in Administration (Accounting option). He then did a four-year course with the Institute of Chartered Accountants qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1985.
Kwadwo Baah Wiredu has worked at various positions with the now defunct Ghana Airways airline and the Volta River Authority. He has worked as a senior consultant on computer-systems and as finance manager of Ananse Systems.
In addition, he was a partner in Asante Wiredu and Associates, an accounting firm, prior to being an MP. Honourable Kwadwo Baah Wiredu died on the 24th of September, 2008 in South Africa. He would always be remembered as one of the most influential and dynamic ministers Ghana has ever had.
Politics
Baah Wiredu was one of the campaigners against the Union government (UNIGOV) concept put forward by General Acheampong's Supreme Military Council in 1978. He joined the New Patriotic Party when it was formed in 1992.
He became an MP in the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic after the 1996 parliamentary elections and has retained his seat since then. He became a minister in John Kufuor's NPP government since 2001. He has so far held the portfolios of Local Government and Rural Development (2001-2003) and Education, Youth and Sports (2003-2005).
He is currently the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, a position he has held since 2005. He died on Wednesday 24th September, 2008 in South Africa.
President Kufuor has joined the family, thousands of mourners and sympathizers of the Late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah Wiredu to mark the one week celebration at Agogo in the Asante Akyem District of the Ashanti Region.The mourners included Mr Ebenezer Begyina Sakyi Hughes, Speaker of Parliament; Members of the Council of State; Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Officials from Ministries; Departments and Agencies; leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as well as delegations from the other political parties in the country.
Also present were the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong; Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, Omanhene of Agogo Traditional Area, and other Chiefs from the other parts of the Region.
The one week celebration was peaceful with various dance bands and musicians including Nana Kwame Ampadu; Amakye Dede and the Police Band as well as traditional cultural troupes and artistes, including Kofi Adu, alias Agya Koo, and Nana Ama Mac Brown performing to the admiration of the mourners.
The late Finance Minister left the country on September 11, 2008 for a medical check-up in Johannesburg in South Africa but died on Wednesday September 24 2008 after a surgery.
Source: GBC news
Deepest condolences
The Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) has expressed regret over the death of Ghana’s Finance Minister, Kwadwo Baah Wiredu. The Institute said, Mr. Baah Wiredu demise is a great loss to the development and growth of financial journalism.
In a statement signed by its President, Lloyd Evans, the IFEJ described him as a proponent of good financial journalism who ensured that financial journalists were updated on developments in the Ministry in relation to international obligations of the country.
The late Minister was said to have introduced the briefing of financial journalists on upcoming international conferences where the national economy was key. These include, the Consultative Group meetings with the World Bank and development partners as well as the most recent, the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.
According to the Institute, Mr. Baah-Wiredu never failed to respond to queries from financial journalists and when the query was not well framed, he made every effort to demystify the thorny aspects for journalists to put in the right perspective for the public. The statement said he will be remembered for his arrangements for the coverage of government financial policy, and his affability.
Members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists extend their deepest condolences to the government and the family of the late Mr. Baah-Wiredu.
Condolences to the family
I can’t comprehend just how sad you must feel
For the loss of someone you love.
This sorrowful time must still feel unreal
And you’re looking for strength from above.
I hope, from my heart, that your pain will decrease,
That your spirit will gain strength again,
And I pray that your faith will create inner peace
And that God will send blessings--Amen.
Till then, if you need me to lighten your load,
I’m waiting to come to your aid.
Just call on me, and I’ll walk down that road,
Until the dark times start to fade.
Deep condolences
Death is nothing at all
What is Death?
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without affect,
without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
~ Henry Scott Holland
Time has taken me from you
Time has taken me from you,
Although not very far.
I'll be watching through the sunshine
And through the brightest star.
I'll be watching all of you,
From the heavens up above.
So take good care of each other
And carry all my love.
If you're ever wondering
If I'm there, here's where you can start.
Take a look inside yourself
Deep within your heart.
I'll always be your husband, father,
Your son, your best friend.
So anytime you need me,
Close your eyes I'm back again.
To the family
I'M FREE
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free
I'm following the path God has chosen for me.
I took His hand when I heard him call;
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way;
I've now found peace at the end of day.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joys.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss;
Oh yes, these things, I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
Look for the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much;
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seems all to brief;
Don't lengthen your pain with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and peace to thee,
God wanted me now - He set me free
Author: Shannon Lee Moseley
O death where is thy sting?
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? - The Bible, 1 Corinthians XV 55
Birth is a beginning
and death a destination
And life is a journey:
From childhood to maturity
and youth to age;
From innocence to awareness
and ignorance to knowing;
From foolishness to discretion
and then perhaps to wisdom.
From weakness to strength or
from strength to weakness
and often back again;
From health to sickness
and we pray to health again.
From offence to forgiveness
from loneliness to love
from joy to gratitude
from pain to compassion
from grief to understanding
from fear to faith.
From defeat to defeat to defeat
until looking backwards or ahead
We see that victory lies not
at some high point along the way
but in having made the journey
step by step
a sacred pilgrimage.
Birth is a beginning
and death a destination
And life is a journey;
A sacred journey to life everlasting
---Anon
Tribute to a man of diligence
Hon. Baah Wiredu was one personality that had lived a life full of devotion to the service of mankind and selfless leadership. The news, splashed across the dailies have it that, the inimitable one passed away on a Black Wednesday in a South African hospital, after complications arising from lung-surgery. It is learnt that he died of pneumonia- an inflammation of the lungs probably caused by the long hours spent in air-conditioned rooms, coupled with overwork and its resultant stress.
His diligence, patriotism and contributions to nation building were evident in his flag of discipline and fundamental ideology. He, until his demise, held ministerial portfolios in Local Government and Rural Development, Education, Youth and Sports, and Finance and Economic Planning.
The passing to glory of our beloved nationalist not only teaches us many lessons, but it could serve as a sober reflection on our lives. In private moments, after all the mourning, we need to shoot a projector unto the cyclorama of our memories, and ask questions like: Where do I go after death? , What is the need for all those material things I struggle determinedly to gain- Is it not vanity? What would people say about me after I join my fathers in the land of silence?
Sadly, the fact that a man of no mean repute as the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, would travel to the Rainbow Nation for medical treatment best typifies the sorry state of our health institution.
May the good Lord give his family the fortitude to bear this immense loss. Well, I am consoled that this man, who is an embodiment of thoroughness and mental acuity, has given us a standard by which the commitment and sincerity of our political leaders can be assessed. Furthermore, I believe, deep down in my heart, that the Lord Almighty would keep such a great mentor and beautiful soul worth-emulating: in his wonderful city of peace, bliss, tranquility and without the anguish of death and pain. So, I begin to ask: ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’
AFREH MANU BERNARD
Farewell Honourable Minister
We the members of NPP UK and Ireland have learnt with deep shock and the sudden death of Hon Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, MP and Finance Minister. Words cannot express the state of shock we find ourselves in from this great loss to Ghana the NPP and Asante Akim North, his constituency.
We in UK and Ireland of the Danquah-Busia fraternity recall with a sense of happiness the number of times that he visited us here in UK and visited our radio stations to explain economic policies and the open and candid nature in which he tackled seemingly difficult situations. We also recall with gratitude his services to the nation and the NPP administration in three tough sectors of the economy – Local Government, Education and Finance & Economic Planning. He was a great achiever and always modest about himself.
We mourn with our mother Party in Ghana the loss of a true defender of our tradition whose sense of patriotism stands tall for all to see. We mourn the loss of a true son of Ghana, a true political leader and a great inspirer. He was a good man.
Our thoughts and condolences go to his young family who undoubtedly has lost a father, a husband, a bread winner and indeed a pillar. Our thoughts also go to the leadership of our Party who worked closely with him and who will be in the forefront of arranging a befitting farewell for undoubtedly one of Ghana’s finest finance ministers, if not the best.
Kwadwo as he was affectionately referred to by all his admirers displayed in his life a sense of humility which was beyond comparison. He was trustworthy, hardworking and indeed a God fearing gentleman who had positive influence on any one who came across him. He was so vey much respected across the political spectrum and worked tirelessly to deepen this respect.
Hon Baah Wiredu has left us a time when his dream of propelling the NPP in its quest to move Ghana forward in the forthcoming election was nearing fruition. He has been wickedly taken away from us at a time when the sound economic policies he helped to create under the leadership of President Kufuor are beginning to pay off. For us as a Party in government with the quest to succeed ourselves in order to transform the economy, modernize the society and deepen the democratic institutions of our country, the only way we can honour his name is to work even harder to realize the ideals he lived and fought for all his life by winning the forthcoming election.
Let us all use Baah Wiredu’s untimely death as the rallying point to unite all factions in the Danquah-Busia family and use this unity to celebrate his life which we consider to be a gift from God.
We thank his family for sparing us the services of a son, a husband and a father in the name of Komfo Adu and thank God for blessing our nation with such a talent. We sincerely believe that history will judge him as a true son, a patriot, an honest politician and indeed great economic saviour of our nation in its in modern political history.
FAREWELL!! KWADWO NANTE YIE!'
Hayford Atta-Krufi CHAIRMAN For and on behalf of NPP UK & EIRE
Sleep well Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu
"Grace, with just a touch of attitude
Obviously ahead of the pack
Obligated to no one
Daring to pave your own way
Beautiful in your uniqueness
You won all our hearts
Everyone you touched, will remember
True to your new friends
Able to leap into our hearts
Sassy but loving
Hyper, with dignity
And above all, missed"
Using the options below you can add this memorial to your personal garden.
| I am Kwadwo's ... | |
| Add to Garden: | |
| Notifications: | Text Message |
There have been 33 candles lit for Kwadwo.
