The New Patriotic Party has eulogized veteran statesman J.H Mensah who was laid to rest Friday in Accra, describing him as someone who “served a cause greater than his self-interest”.
Former Senior Minister J.H. Mensah dies at 89
Read the tribute by the party below
TRIBUTE TO J.H. MENSAH
By the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
The best thing that can ever be said about any person is that he or she served a cause greater than self-interest. Those of us in the New Patriotic Party have listened and read about all the well-earned tributes and praises to the memory of Joseph Henry Mensah, known by many as J.H. Mensah, that have filled the nation’s newspapers and airwaves since his death. These could be summed up in one tribute: He served a cause greater than his self-interest.
J.H Mensah did not only contribute enormously to the founding of the NPP but also played a leading role in almost all the major milestones chalked by the party over the years particularly in the advancement of multiparty democracy and good governance in Ghana and across the world. He had paid his dues to the NPP in all departments of life. He was there for the party whenever and wherever the party needed him. His political, social and economic astuteness which he amply demonstrated to advance the cause of the NPP and Ghana is amazingly outstanding. The success story of the NPP cannot be written without the mention of JH Mensah. It goes without any shred of doubt that the 12th of July shall remain one of the darkest days in the party’s history.
He was such an outstanding honourable member of the Ghanaian society who served this party and nation with dignity, humility and integrity. He was an embodiment of unconditional love to all and sundry, setting the biblical example of being a brother’s keeper. None left your presence disappointed. As a man of principle and exceptionally high standards, he stood, at all times, for honour, humility, hard work, commitment to duty, integrity, accountability, compassion and service to motherland and mankind.
It is therefore not surprising that J.H Mensah was one of the few politicians who had the rare privilege of serving in various high profile positions under different governments from independence to the Fourth Republic. It is told of him that he spearheaded the preparations of Ghana’s Seven-Year Development Plan as the Executive Secretary of the National Development Planning Commission in the First Republic under President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. No wonder he is described as the Father of Development Planning in the country in recognition of the indispensable role he played in Ghana’s national development planning agenda.
Also, during his tenure as Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the Second Republic under the government of Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, he was at the forefront of restoring stability to the Ghanaian economy which, at the time, was severely challenged. His Finance and Economic prowess was also felt across all Republics through to the Fourth Republican Dispensation under the Kufuor-led NPP government where he served as Ghana’s first Senior Minister among other engagements in the economic front in particular.
J.H Mensah believed in property. He believed in freedom and liberty of the Ghanaian. He stood against dictatorship of all forms, here in Ghana and across the continent of Africa. Today we mourn a titan. If we want to win the war of idea and lasting political power, we certainly must listen to the echoes of the man we are mourning today and also be prepared to confidently advocate and defend liberal positions as J.H. Mensah did throughout his lifetime. He refused to dilute his liberal principles to pacify socialist schools. He was driven by the logic of his scientific reasoning to the conclusion that a liberal society is the only gateway to economic development and prosperity.
Our tribute would certainly not be complete without acknowledging his enormous contribution towards the entrenchment of Rule of Law and the advancement of Parliamentary Democracy in Ghana. As a consummate parliamentarian, J.H Mensah led the NPP’s Parliamentary Group, both as Minority and Majority Leader at various times, to achieve some significant feats in terms of legislative reforms to advance the cause of good governance and democracy in the country. Again, eventhough he was not a lawyer, the Supreme Court of Ghana Law Reports as well as the Ghana Law Reports are replete with his name having taking a number of seminal cases to the nation’s apex court and secured some landmark judgments.
Clearly, J.H. Mensah’s contribution to the NPP political tradition and Ghana at large cannot be overemphasized and thus, his passing, is such an incalculable loss to the party and the rest of the country. We, in the NPP in particular, have indeed lost a father, a benefactor, a mentor and a colossus.
The party once again bids him farewell and also extends its heartfelt condolence to his immediate family especially wife and children, his political friends and the rest of the nation for such unbearable loss. We are confident that he is in the bosom of the Lord and all is well with him. The NPP will miss him. Ghana will miss him. His opponents will miss him. We will miss him.
Damerefa Due!!
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace, till we meet again…
…JOHN BOADU…
GENERAL SECRETARY
The post J.H Mensah ‘served a cause greater than self-interest’ – NPP appeared first on 3newsgh.
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