President Nana Akufo-Addo has said he is deeply saddened by the death of a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Clement Kubindiwor Tedam.
C.K. Tedam, the NPP Council of Elders chairman, died aged 93 on Wednesday.
The leadership of the NPP has directed all party flags fly at half-mast across the country.
“C.K. Tedam leaves a big void not only in the NPP family and in the Ghanaian nation, but also in my personal life, as he was a constant and consistent source of good, invaluable counsel,” President Akufo-Addo said in a tribute.
“Age did not diminish his commitment to the cause of the NPP, and, despite his advanced age, he was very active in the affairs of the party until the very end and a major influence on its growth.”
C. K. Tedam’s first won election to parliament as an independent candidate in 1954.
He was a founding member of the Northern People’s Party, on which’s ticket he stood and won another election to parliament in 1956.
He also served as a Minister of Local Government during the regime of the Supreme Military Council (Ghana).
He was a member of the Council of State during the John Kufuor Administration.
He became the Chairman of the NPP’s Council of elders after 2008.
Before entering parliament, C.K. Tedam had been a teacher.
Find below the full tribute
PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO MOURNS C.K. TEDAM
I am deeply saddened by the death of Clement Kubindiwu Tedam, a great Ghanaian patriot, and a stalwart and legend of the New Patriotic Party, which occurred in the early hours of today, Friday, 26th April 2019.
A member of the Paga Royal Family, C.K. Tedam was the last surviving member of the Northern People’s Party, the first NPP. He became an important activist of the United Party, the Progress Party, the Popular Front Party and the New Patriotic Party, and played an integral and vibrant part in the development of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition.
Age did not diminish his commitment to the cause of the NPP, and, despite his advanced age, he was very active in the affairs of the party until the very end and a major influence on its growth. He served graciously on several committees of the party, and, as Chair of the Council of Elders, he played an invaluable and unforgettable role in preserving the stability and unity of the party, when it became embroiled in a series of unnecessary disputes that sought, deliberately, to undermine its coherence. C.K. Tedam was a rock in that painful era of distress, and this and succeeding generations of adherents of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition will always honour and treasure his memory.
Member of Parliament, Minister for Local Government, Member of the Council of State, he served his nation well, and worked with others, against great odds, to help entrench the values of respect for the rule of law, individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability in the body politic of our nation, helping, after a long struggle, to make the mantra of “Development in Freedom” the dominant principle in Ghanaian politics. He belonged to the group of Ghanaians, who never wavered in their belief that a vigorous, market economy would best serve the needs of growth and development of our nation.
C.K. Tedam leaves a big void not only in the NPP family and in the Ghanaian nation, but also in my personal life, as he was a constant and consistent source of good, invaluable counsel. I will miss him dearly.
I extend my deepest condolences to the Paga Pio, Charles Awia Awamampaga, to his family and to the New Patriotic Party, and to all the people of Ghana, who have suffered a great loss in the departure of their faithful servant.
May his soul rest and abide in the bosom of the Almighty until the last day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again.
……signed……
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President of the Republic
