We Will Miss Her; Akufo-Addo Mourns Ama Ata Aidoo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is convinced that the world will miss the late Ghanaian writer and former Minister for Education, Christina Ama Ata Aidoo.
The President joined the tall list of mourners paying tribute to her on Friday in a social media post.
He is convicted of the fact that she will be missed not just among her countrymen but by her fellow Africans and the world.
“We will miss her; the continent and the world will miss her. She had a reach that was beyond Ghana.”
He recalled and shared his relations with her while she lived.
“She was my contemporary at the University of Ghana, someone with whom I enjoyed friendly and productive relations.”
He recalled, “Ama Ata Aidoo was a big Ghanaian and one of the outstanding writers of her generation. Through her work, she made a tremendous contribution to the development of our country and continent, and expressed so many of our feelings about our fate as Ghanaians and, indeed, as Africans.”
He added, “I extend deepest sympathies and condolences to her children and family on their great loss.”
Ama Ata Aidoo died on May 31 after a short illness, the family of the novelist, poet and playwright announced in a press statement
She was 81 years.
She attended Wesley Girls’ Senior High School from 1961 to 1964 and enrolled at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English. She proceeded to Stanford University where she obtained a fellowship in creative writing.
In 1969, she returned to Ghana to teach English at the University of Ghana. She later became a lecturer in English at the University of Cape Coast, where she eventually rose to the position of professor.
She was appointed the Minister of Education by late and former President Jerry John Rawlings in 1982 and resigned after 18 months after reportedly realising that she would be unable to achieve her aim of making education in Ghana free.
Her first play “The Dilemma of a Ghost” was written in 1964. It was published by Longman the following year, making Aidoo the first published African woman dramatist.
