Tributes are being paid to Ghana’s Deputy Finance Minister John Kumah, who passed away from an undisclosed illness on Thursday.
He was 45 years old. Kumah passed away while being transported from Ejisu, his constituency, to the capital, Accra, which is about 235km (146 miles) away. He was with his doctor at the time.
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“We decided this morning to take him to Accra so that he takes the next available flight to continue his treatment in Germany,” Kumah’s spokesperson, Bismarck Owusu Twumasi, told Ghana’s Citi FM radio station on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, he was not fit enough to board the plane, so we decided to take [an] ambulance and transport him to Accra,” Mr. Twumasi added.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has led the country in paying tributes to Mr. Kumah.
“His warmth, humility, and genuine concern for others endeared him to me and to all who crossed his path,” President Akufo-Addo said on X.
The president also highlighted Kumah’s “unwavering dedication to service, his tireless commitment to the betterment of our nation, and his profound passion for uplifting the lives of the people of Ejisu and Ghana”.
Mr. Twumasi said Kumah’s demise was a loss to his constituents.
Kumah was also a lawyer, preacher, and entrepreneur.
He is survived by a wife and six children.
