Final funeral rites of Prof. Awoonor held in Wheta

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday joined hundreds of mourners at Wheta in the Volta Region to observe the final funeral rites of the late Professor Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor.

Also in attendance were; Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Politicians, Writers, traditional rulers and some members of the Diplomatic Corps.

The Late Professor Awoonor was among casualties of the WestGate Shopping Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya on September, 21 this year.

Part of the funeral rites were performed in Accra a month ago and this rite at Wheta climaxed all the funeral proceedings of the late Poet, Novelist, Diplomat, politician cum traditionalist.

The funeral was also marked with traditional drumming and dancing amidst singing of dirges to commemorate the occasion from all over the country.

Apart from engaging in politics, the late Awoonor was also an Assistant Secretary of the Ghana Academy of Science and letters, lecturer at the school of administration, a research fellow, Managing Director, Ghana Film Industry Corporation and chair of comparative Literature Programme.

He was also Head of the English Department of the University of Cape Coast and later made Dean of the same Department.

Later, the late Professor was made Ghana’s Ambassador to Brazil between the 1980s and early 1990s, with concurrent accreditations to Surinam, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Guyana.  He also served in Cuba, with concurrent accreditations to Nicaragua, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

He was also Ambassador and permanent Representative to the United States of America and later a Minister of State.

Before his death, the late professor had just completed his four-year term as the Chairman of the Council of State.

Source: GNA