Governor of the Bank of Ghana, says the staff of the central bank is saddened by the passing of the former vice president of Ghana, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.
Speaking to JoyBusiness, Dr Ernest Addison said, “Well, this is very sad for all of us, today is my birthday so I had just come out of a prayer meeting with my priest…This is very sad.”
He said, “The former vice president Amissah-Arthur was a very pleasant gentleman. I worked closely with him for two years out of the three years that he was governor, as director of research; went on many international meetings with him as a member of his delegation.”
Dr Addison added, “He was so kind, very thoughtful person, listened to technical advice and very professional in his work. Our thoughts and well wishes go out to his family.”
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Mr. Amissah-Arthur is reported to have collapsed at the Air Force Gym early Friday and was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Profile of Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur:
During his time at the Bank of Ghana, he undertook a couple of initiative which includes the welfare of the staff significantly. He was very much loved by the staff of Bank of Ghana and will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and well wishes go out to his family.”
Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, born April 29, 1951, was an economist, academic and politician who was the sixth Vice-President of Ghana, in office from August 6, 2012, until January 7, 2017, under President John Dramani Mahama.
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Previously he was Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009 to 2012.
He was sworn in as Vice-President on August 6, 2012, following vetting by the Parliament of Ghana.
He was nominated by President John Dramani Mahama to be the vice-president a week after Mahama himself was sworn in. This followed the sudden death of John Atta Mills on July 24, 2012.
Economics and consultancy:
Amissah-Arthur was a research assistant at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research between 1974 and 1975.
He later joined the Economics Department as a teaching assistant from 1977 to 1978, going on to become an assistant lecturer in 1979. He lectured at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1988.
He had also been a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Anambra State College of Education, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria (August 1981 – July 1983).
He worked as a consultant for the World Bank in The Gambia. He also served as a consultant for the Netherlands’ government education project in Ghana.
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He then worked as Senior Economist for the Sigma One Corporation in Ghana between 1998 and 2000. Between 2001 and 2002, he was on assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.