Former first lady Theresa Aba Kufuor has died

Theresa Aba Kufuor, the wife of the second president of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, the former president John Agyekum Kufuor, has died at the age of 87, a source close to the Kufuor family has confirmed to Netbuzz Africa.

She died on Sunday 1 October 2023, 24 days to her 88th birthday.

Theresa Kufuor (née Mensah) was born on 25 October 1935. She was a retired nurse and midwife.

Her husband, the former president John Agyekum Kufuor, was at home with her when his wife, to whom he has been married for over 60 years, passed away.

Mrs Kufuor has not been well in recent years.

Incidentally, President of Ghana,  had travelled to the mountains to pay a visit to the former president and her passing is said to have happened shortly before he arrived.

Career nurse
Mrs Kufuor played a significant role during her time in office and leaves behind a legacy of grace and dedication to the people of Ghana. She was also a devout Roman Catholic.

Mrs Kufuor started her education at the Catholic convent Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) in Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana. She later moved to the United Kingdom, where she trained as a registered general nurse at the Southern Hospital Group of Nursing in Edinburgh, Scotland.

After further study at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and Paddington General Hospital in London, she qualified as a state certified midwife with a certificate in premature nursing.

Theresa Mensah married John Kufuor in 1962 when he was aged 23. They had met at a Ghana Republic Day anniversary dance in London in 1961.

She had five children with John Kufuor – John Addo Kwabo Kufuor, Nana Ama Gyamfi, Saa Kufuor, Agyekum Kufuor and Owusu Afriyie Kufuor. She died a mother-of-five and a grandmother of 12.

Despite being the first lady of Ghana for eight years between 2001 and 2009, she managed to maintain a low profile in the political arena.

In 2007 she pushed for policy changes to the government’s white paper on education reform towards the implementation of UNESCO’s free, compulsory and universal basic education (FCUBE) programme for kindergarten children.

She founded the Mother and Child Community Development Foundation (MCCDF), a non-governmental organisation operating in Ghana and Canada, which supports work in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of disease.