The remains of a former Council of State member, Enoch Teye (E.T.) Mensah, arrived in Accra last Tuesday at the V.I.P. lounge (Terminal 2) of the Kotoka International Airport.
The former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ningo-Prampram Constituency, aged 77, passed away last Sunday in South Africa after battling ill health for some time.
The casket containing his mortal remains touched down in a South African airplane at exactly 9:00 p.m.
It was wrapped in a Ghana flag, an honor confirming his reputation as a statesman who has served the country in various capacities.
Ceremony
The Kley Abordo Family of the late E.T. Mensah poured libation in receipt of the former Minister of Sports at an official ceremony at the airport.
With a red carpet treatment, six military personnel carried the casket of E.T. Mensah to a military stand where top government officials, Members of Parliament, leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), family, friends, and well-wishers had gathered in a solemn mood to receive him.
The Director of Religious Affairs of the Ghana Armed Forces, Rev. Commodore Paul Adjei-Djan, prayed for the family, followed by an Islamic prayer.
The body was later conveyed to the morgue after the ceremony to officially welcome him home.
Industrious
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, who received the remains on behalf of the government described E.T. Mensah as an industrious son of the soil, who helped to shape the local governance of the country.
The regional minister announced that in due course, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would meet with the family of the deceased to collaborate and ensure a smooth burial,
Meanwhile, the family’s spokesperson, Kwaku Ansa Asare, said no official statement concerning the burial and funeral rites of the departed statesman would be made until the family had officially notified all the relevant stakeholders as custom demanded.
He added that it was only after the notification that the dates for the burial and funeral rites would be officially announced.
Profile
Born on May 17, 1946, Enoch Teye Mensah was a Minister of Youth and Sports in the Rawlings era and a Member of Parliament for 20 years from January 1997 to January 2017.
He was married with seven children.
During the PNDC era, he served as the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
As a staunch member of the NDC, he entered Parliament on January 7, 1997, on the ticket of the party, representing the people of Ningo-Prampram, and held the seat until January 6, 2017.
He also served as Minister of Youth and Sports in former President J.J. Rawlings’s government for two terms.
In January 2010, after a cabinet reshuffle, President John Evans Atta Mills appointed him Minister for Employment and Social Welfare.
On February 12, 2021, E.T. Mensah was elected as the representative of the Greater Accra Region on the Council of State.
