Mourners yesterday joined the family and friends of the longest-serving Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Peter Nanfuri, to pay their last respects at a solemn farewell service at the State House in Accra.
There were glowing tributes, particularly from the Catholic Church and the Police Service, eulogising the late Naa Angsoleh Ganaa II, the Paramount Chief of the Jirapa Traditional Area, and a well-known member of the Catholic Church who passed on at 80.
Notable among the personalities present at the ceremony were the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin; the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare; the Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama; the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison; the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia; the Paramount Chief of the Nandom Traditional Area, Professor Edmund Nminnyem Delle Chiir VIII, chiefs and retired officials from the other security agencies.
The casket containing the remains of the man who entered the Police Service in 1968 and subsequently became the longest serving Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) was opened to the public for filing past as early as 7 a.m.
The mourners took turns to file past the body to bid farewell to the former President of Jirapa Traditional Council.
Many of the mourners, including the immediate family members, were adorned in black.
The casket was closed at exactly 9:a.m. after the family and clergymen from the Catholic Church had filed past their beloved, who served as the IGP until he retired in 2000.
He was also a former member of the Council of State.
There was also a procession and display by officers from the Police Service and its band.
The former IGP’s remains are expected to be airlifted to the Upper West Region where the burial Mass will take place at the Naaviri Park in Jirapa on Saturday, May 27, 2023.
Hero
In a tribute read on behalf of the Police Administration, the Director General of Administration of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, described Mr Nanfuri as one of his heroes who became the cornerstone of the Police Service.
He added that during Mr Nanfuri’s administration, he improved the service conditions of all police officers irrespective of ranks, and also fought for numerous allowances for the personnel, adding: “This can be attested to by personnel of the Service and Ghanaians as a whole”.
“We are glad to say that you have mentored and positively affected so many lives and we are grateful to God for giving you to us.
“Today, we bid a final goodbye to a great icon of our noble profession and we do so with a heavy heart.
No amount of words can express sorrow and sense of absence as we pay this tribute to our dear colleague,” COP Yohuno said.
He further noted that Mr Nanfuri did everything in his power to enhance police professionalism by applying the strict enforcement of the Police Code of Conduct while insulating the services from external influences.
One of his children, Philip Gandaa Nanfuri, touted his father as a man with numerous qualities who guided them through the journey of life.
“Your positive attributes, focused mind and sometimes unfathomable resilience to pain as well as your hard-guy attitude and zero-emotions persona are what will keep us going.”
“Your ability to bring people of different divides together was highly remarkable, a quality that through the world, from infancy to adulthood, deserves the highest order of respect.
“We cannot thank you enough for your unbounded love in this journey of life,” he added.
Exhortation
A former Parish Priest of the Christ the King Parish in Accra, Very Rev. Fr Andrew Campbell, said Nanfuri was a man of prayer who walked with Christ and shared his love.
He encouraged the mourners to have personal time with God as they were mostly engaged in work.
“Nowadays, we are so busy that we don’t have time to pray.
Have time with God and pray.
No talking, no phone.
Just a quiet time with you and your father,” he said.
The Very Rev. Fr Campbell advised them to be faithful in their heart and all aspects of their lives.
“Learn to be faithful to God and everyone.
He (Nanfuri) lived his life in service to his church and country,” he added.