Almost a year after Matilda Amissah-Arthur, wife of Ghana’s late vice president, lashed out at some Ghanaians for their hypocrisy during the funeral service for her husband, the librarian has explained her reason for the comments.
She told Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Citi TV that, she may have been led by the “Holy Spirit” to make the comments while delivering her tribute on the day of the funeral service in Accra.
“I hate hypocrisy, I hate dishonesty, I hate lies,” she said.
According to her, although she had prepared a one-page tribute to deliver during the ceremony, she was moved to free her mind on the hypocrisy some people were displaying.
“When my husband died, it came to the fore how hypocritical we can be as a people because a lot of people who threw insults at my husband that he was good for nothing and he didn’t do any work and so on, actually came and said he was not just a gentleman’s gentleman but he was so hardworking, worked so well and was fantastic,” she said in the interview.
“One of the things I said there, was to the effect that those who know his worth, value him, stressing that, this one year has proved to everybody Mr. Amissah-Arthur’s value.”
In her tribute on that day, she said; “I asked myself, is this Ghana? Are all these people in Ghana because the maligning, the lies, the treachery, the wickedness, the deliberately changing things so that you could look better than others….Today I asked the same question, did people really know my husband. Did people take time to know him? The false accusations, the lies, the maligning. Did they know him?”
But in words of comfort, she concluded by saying her family cherished the late Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.
“We knew you, and we know you are a rare gem, and we treasure you, and we are very proud of you,” she said.
Many people jumped unto her tribute and described it as a subtle jab to leading members of the opposition NDC party who had reportedly sidelined the former Vice President in the governance business and undermined him.
Kwesi Amissah-Arthur died on June 29, 2018, after he collapsed at the Airforce Gym in Accra during a workout session.
New book
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur has since written a book titled “Strength in the Storm – When a loved one dies,” which she believes will help people who may have lost their loved ones.
She said the book will provide some comfort and also help others understand how to relate or help people who are grieving from the loss of a loved one.
About Amissah-Arthur
Before becoming Vice President in August 2012, he was Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009 to 2012.
From 1983 to 1986, Amissah-Arthur served as a special assistant to the Secretary of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwesi Botchwey under the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) government.
He also served as the Deputy Secretary for Finance in the PNDC government from February 1986 to March 1993.
From April 1993, he continued as the Deputy Minister for Finance in the under the Fourth Republic’s first government until March 1997.
Mr. Amissah-Arthur, 67, was appointed as Governor of the Bank of Ghana in October 2009 by then-President John Atta Mills.
He held that position until August 6, 2012, when he became Vice-President of Ghana following the death of Atta Mills.
A wife and two children survive him.