By: Napoleon Ato Kittoe
The final funeral rites of former Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram in the Greater Accra region, Mr. E.T Mensah began 5 January 2024 at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra.
The politician who until his death was a member of the Council of State, died late last year while undergoing medical treatment in South Africa.
He was born on 17th May 1946, he held ministerial portfolios such as Youth and Sports, Education, and Employment and Social Welfare.
Prior to these, he was the Mayor of Accra from 1982 to 1992, after which in 1993 he became the Sports Minister.
His tenure at the sports ministry saw improved campaigns in all international competitions. Ghana won the Ecuador 1995 World Under-17 football competition, and great excitement in the domestic top flight league when Hearts’ Shamo Quaye and Kotoko’s Joe Debrah made the headlines.
When he got excited about a performance, Mr E.T Mensah stated in 1998 that he would host the national youth football team on an Island in shallow sea waters of Prampram.
For many years it was rumored he was the barber of former President Rawlings, a hearsay that only went to underscore the very close relations of the two, as personal friends and political allies.
During the “Kume Preko” demonstrations that rocked the capital Accra in 1995, he was accused by the political opposition as having ordered attacks on the activists. He denied the allegations in interviews he granted in his last days, which was also not proven in any court of law.
He capped his rich political career with his place at least for four years in the Council of State, having been elected as the Greater Accra regional representative to the advisory body. This was a repair to the political injury he incurred by the loss of the Ningo-Prampram parliamentary seat to Sam Nartey George in 2016.
Mr E.T Mensah was part of the Wiseman committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama in 2014 to serve as an advisory unit within his government. That committee never got off the ground. The other members were Mr P.V Obeng, Mr. Cletus Avoka, and Dr. Stephen Ayidiah.
Tributes have been pouring in for the late statesman.
All his life’s constituencies – the family, political party, the National Democratic Congress, NDC, the political class, natives of Ningo-Prampram and the Methodist Church described the late Mr E T Mensah as a man of humility, foresight and organizational abilities.
The corollary to the common thread was that, his absence from Ghana’s body politics through death, leaves his admirers with a heavy heart.
He will be buried at Prampram on Saturday 6th January, 2024.
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