President Akufo-Addo has paid glowing tribute to former Finance Minister Professor Kwesi Botchwey.
Professor Botchwey, the longest serving Finance Minister in Ghana, died on Saturday morning, November 19, 2022, whilst receiving medical treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. He was 78 years.
Reacting to the news of his death, President Akufo-Addo who described Prof. Botchwey as his “good friend” said he was a long-standing public servant who discharged his duties thoughtfully and with dignity.
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Akufo-Addo in a Facebook post on Monday said the death of Prof Botchwey is “a very sad development, adding that Ghana has lost a fine gentleman and exceptional public servant.
“My contemporary, in the mid-1960’s, at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Botchway was a longstanding public servant, who discharged his duties thoughtfully and with dignity.
“The thoughts and sympathies of my wife, Rebecca, the First Lady, and I are with his partner, children, and family. I extend my deepest condolences to them, and to the National Democratic Congress, of which he was a prominent and much respected member.
“May his soul rest in perfect peace in the Bosom of the Almighty until the last day of the resurrection when we shall all meet again,” he said.
Profile of the late Prof. Kwesi Botchwey
Prof. Kwesi Botchwey born on September 3, 1944, attended his secondary school education at the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School in Ghana.
Later on, he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Ghana and then a Master of Laws degree at the Yale Law School in the USA.
The late economist and finance minister hold a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan Law School in the USA.
Prior to becoming a finance minister, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey was a lecturer at the University of Zambia, the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and the University of Ghana.
He also served as an advisor to World Bank on the 1997 World Development Report.
Prof. Botchwey had vast expertise in economic management as he was a member and Chairman of IMF‘s Group of Independent Experts who conducted the first-ever external evaluation of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility under the Fund.
He also served as an advisor to the UNDP‘s UN Special Initiative on Africa and an advisor to the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).