One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes
from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two
sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one
set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me
always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed
you most, have you not been there for me?"
The Lord replied, "The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you."
Oh my God!
As the days go by
I find it sinking in
That my dearest Daddy is gone
Ahh! it is so painful
unbelievable
May the Good Lord give me the strength
I LOVE YOU DAD.
Farewell to a powerful statesman
We in the UK & Ireland Branch of the New Patriotic Party have learnt with deep regret the sudden death of one of the foundations of the NPP Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey. Together with our mother party in Ghana, we are in a deep state of mourning for the loss of a great son, not just of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo family, but also a great son of La Dzarasee and Ghana, who until very recently was the third most powerful statesman in Ghana.
From a very humble beginnings in La, the former chairman of NPP rose to both academic and political heights. We are only gratified in this great time of sorrow that that the President was touched by divine providence to say thank you to him just before he passed on by conferred on him a national award- Order of the Star (Member Division) - for his selfless role in the development of the Legislature and the Public Service. This is an opportunity which the nation would have not had, except posthumously.
From his youthful days at St. Paul's School at La, through Accra Academy [bleoo] to the University College of the Gold Coast (now the University of Ghana) and then to University of Nottingham and finally called to the Bar at Middle Temple in UK and Ghana, Peter put his legal knowledge at the disposal of all Ghanaians.
As a lawyer, none like him from 1959 to 1962, Mr. Adjetey worked as a Law Officer with the Attorney Generals' department. He was a part-time lecturer at the Institute of Adult Education, University of Ghana between 1960 and 1962. He was also a part-time lecturer at the Ghana Law School between 1964 and 1968. He also served on numerous boards at various times including membership of the Judicial Council of Ghana from 1984 to 1989. He was the President of the Ghana Bar Association between 1985 and 1989. He was appointed the President of the African Bar Association in 2000.
Peter felt his sense of responsibility will not be accomplished if he did not serve his nation in its quest for freedom and justice. As a politician therefore and none like him Peter Ala Adjetey became the Member of Parliament for Kpeshie in the Third Republic of Ghana. He was also the leader of the United National Convention Parliamentary group during the same period. In 1995, he became Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, a position he held until 1998. He held the party together and indeed the NPP Constitution as we have today was literally his brain child.
In 2001 when the NPP came to power, Peter Ala Adjetey became the second speaker of the House of Parliament. He served the house with such distinction and was so just and unbiased that in 2005 the NDC caucus wanted him to carry on with his job.
After serving the nation and the NPP in various capacities, Peter did not relax in his retirement. He continued to serve on advisory capacity, touring the nation and serving the party in the choice of a successor to President Kufuor as the leader of the NPP and the next president of Ghana. As a Chairman of the our party’s legal committee, Mr. Ala Adjetey always spoke his mind with boldness and fortitude and spoke the truth without mincing words. We will miss his immense contribution in interpreting the law as it should be.
To us in NPP UK, we console the family and support them during these days of great sadness. It is the time to show leadership and prove to Peter’s immediate family that he had even a bigger family. He had vision and he shared this vision with all who came to him life. Peter has left us a time when his life long dream of creating rule of law and democracy is truly underway under the leadership of President Kufuor and for us as a Party in government the only way we can honour her name is to work even harder to realise the ideals she lived and fought for all her life. Let us all use Peter’s untimely death as the rallying point to unite all factions in our political landscape and use this unity to celebrate his life which we consider to be a gift from God and use his dream and vision to elect Nana Akufo-Addo to deepen rule of law and cement the principles of democracy. We thank his family for giving us a son in the name of Peter and thank God for blessing our nation with such a talent. We sincerely believe that history will judge him as a patriot, the brave politician, and indeed great man in modern political history.
May his soul and that of all the faithful departed rest in perfect peace. PETER KPOO!! PETER DAMIRIFA DUE!!
Source:
Media Team NPP UK & EIRE
Ala Adjetey’s Death Shocking — DFP
The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has learnt with utter shock and disbelief the death of the Rt Hon Peter Ala Adjetey, the former Speaker of the Fourth Republican Parliament of Ghana.
A statement issued in Accra described the news as shocking, saying it came not only as a great loss to his family, friends, colleagues and party, the NPP, but also constituted a great loss to the country, since he was one of its most illustrious sons.
“We even dare add that his death is a loss to the world at large, as he was an embodiment of democracy and democratic practices. No doubt a vacuum has been created by his untimely death,” the statement added.
According to the statement, the former Speaker distinguished himself both as a statesman and one who not only believed in democracy but also lived it.
The DFP statement said the former Speaker consistently demonstrated his commitment to democratic rule by contesting elections and entering Parliament as the member for the Kpeshie Constituency in Greater Accra in 1979, saying he was one of the people who fought for a return to constitutional democracy in the 1980s.
His efforts were crowned in 1998 when he was elected the National Chairman of the NPP, before being elected the Speaker of Parliament in 2001, after the late Justice D. F. Annan, it said.
The statement noted that his stewardship as Speaker moved parliamentary democracy many steps forward, as he came in with innovative ideas which greatly added new dimensions to the institution of Parliament.
Even after he had left the seat of Speaker of Parliament, it said, he did not relent in his advocacy for the deepening of democratic practices in this country, as he was involved in delivering many thought-provoking lectures in that direction.
The late Speaker was also one of the leading legal luminaries in the country whose contribution to the development of the legal profession knew no bounds.
“As we mourn the death of the former Speaker, the greatest tribute to pay him is to keep our democratic practice on course,” the DFP statement added.
Daddy My Hero
Daddy my earthly shield
Daddy my last earthly resort
Daddy my big tree
Daddy my role model
You taught me that life is about working very hard
You gave zero tolerance to laziness
You taught me that in life, one needs to be fair
You made me value education
I have been left in deep sorrow
I am so shattered and scattered
I have a great loss
I am in hot ashes
How do I cry?
Oh how do I cry
Should I be strong and not cry
Should I hide my feelings and do what we do as men
Should I be diplomatic about it
Oh life is so short
I remember when Iwas little
You looked so strong and challenging
You supported me in several ways
Some I did not appreciate
But now I do seriously with all my heart
Appreciate them
I have been reading the letters to wrote to me
when I was in University in Luton
And when you ended it by saying
'With love, your daddy'
Oh, that lifts up my heart
It makes me proud
You have always made me proud
Others may find faults with you
But hey, who is sinless?
Who is the most righteous
You did several things that makes me sooooo
proud of you: for me and the nation
You taught me to love my nation
And that spirit leads me to keep
Ghana's name high at my work place
Oh Nana Otoafom Bekoe
My chief, my lawyer, my speaker
How I wish I could tell what the future holds
I would have known, at least, that you will depart on the 15th July
How I wish I hugged you so close
When you visited us in London
Spent the whole day and night talking to you
And tapping even more wisdom from you
I seriously miss you, very much
Oh! I will always feel your absence
Daddy due, Daddy Peter due
May your SOUL REST IN PEACE
Order, Order, Order...
On July 3 2008, Peter Ala Adjetey was among some 250 Ghanaians decorated with state honours for various contributions to the Ghanaian state. As a former Speaker of Parliament, it was a well deserved honour.
When Peter Ala Adjetey strode onto the stage to receive his award from the President, the chorus of “Order, Order, Order” that greeted him from the audience was enough evidence of the impact the man’s long public service had had on his society. Barely two weeks later, the country was to lose him forever. But at least, he departed this life clutching the recognition of a grateful nation to his chest.
The award was in recognition of his enormous contribution to the law and parliamentary democracy in Ghana.
The eulogy, to us, was what he received from his country just before his death. That we believe supercedes all else – except of course what blessings his maker would bestow on him. Farewell Mr. Order, Order, Order...
Tribute
The late Peter Ala Adjetey fought a good fight
The entire members of NPP-HOLLAND and admirers of Peace, Freedom and Justice, join together with heavy-laden hearts to express our condolences to the bereaved family, and the traditional people of La, on the death of former Speaker of the fourth republic of Ghana, Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey. Your sorrow and grief over this loss can never be separated from ours here, in The Netherlands.
We remember the Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, as a lawyer who throughout his life, fought for freedom, Justice, Human Rights and advancement of Ghana’s democracy. Indeed, he fought a good fight with all his might. It was not surprising he became the third Speaker of Parliament in the Fourth Republic of Ghana. As a speaker of parliament he oversaw the efficient and smooth running of our parliamentary proceedings and debates in a real democratic Ghana that he helped make.
Hon. Ala Adjetey engaged himself in a fight that has come to fruition today, not only to the benefit of Ghanaians but to Africa as well. Ghana is at all time peace with her neighbours, whiles multiparty democracy, Rule of Law towards economic development, continues to gain roots in the fabric of Ghanaian society. May the hearts of the bereaved family and those of the Danquah-Busia family, be comforted today and tomorrow. The royal son of Nuumo Okantey Adjetey Din We, of La Dzarasee, Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, pursued relentlessly for democratic change, and he saw it all happening then and now.
It gladdens us that the people of Ghana awarded him with the Order of the Star, for a great job done for God and Country, before his calling by the almighty. No grave can hold a spirit that fought with bravery.
We, the NPP-Holland believe strongly, that Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey, a noble servant of God and country will certainly rest in perfect peace, knowing before death that Ghana is moving forward through the path of his choice. Though time will heal the sorrow, we will always share loving memories of him. Again, our hearts goes out to you today. Ghana has lost a political doyen.
MAY HE REST IN PEACE
CHAIRMAN, NPP-HOLLAND
Life History of the Late Rt. Hon. Peter Ala Adjetey
As early as Standard Five, Young Peter Ala Adjetey had a strong attraction to politics. His regular visits to meetings of the Legislative Council to listen to speeches by prominent Ghanaians such as the Chief of Prampram, Nene Anorkwei; the Chief of Manya Krobo, Nene Azu Mate-Korle, and a founder member of the United Gold Coast Convention, Dr J. B. Danquah, aroused the political instinct in him, writes Augustina Tawiah in a recent article in the Junior Graphic.
His interest in politics at that tender age was so high that he supported the UGCC in full when it was formed in 1947, when he was only a Standard Seven pupil.
'I was very interested in the politics of the UGCC and the internal difference of opinion in it,' he said.
So deep was his love for politics that he pledged to himself that if he had education, he would do the things those prominent people were doing at the Legislative Council.
And, true to his pledge, he, indeed, became one of the most respected lawyers, politicians and statesmen in the country.
No wonder he has left an indelible mark in the political history of the country which cannot be fully written without his name.
Not only was Mr Adjetey a prominent politician; he was also a successful legal practitioner.
His law firm, Nii Okantey Chambers, located at the Accra Post Office Square, is a place any budding lawyer would love to have his or her training.
Giving the Junior Graphic a peep into his childhood at his chambers, he was so nice and affable, contrary to public perception that he was so strict and regimental. Amidst laughter, he delved into his past and answered all questions posed to him.
Mr Adjetey, who started school very late, at nine, was the only child, out of his 10 siblings, to complete secondary school and receive higher education.
All the others ended their education after Standard Seven because there was no money in the family.
Having realised the importance of education very early, he recalled that whenever he learnt about other people's achievements, he believed he could also make it if he had the required education.
The desire to excel drove him to pursue education, despite the difficulties and lack of money in the family.
'My ambition, as a child, was to acquire higher education. I wanted to go to secondary school, ' he stressed repeatedly.
As a result, walking the four-mile journey from La, where he was born and raised, to his school, Bishop Boys in Accra, and back was not a big deal.
To break the journey home after school, he recalled that he and his friends 'used to go to the beach and fight. Sometimes we were beaten, at other times we won'.
He explained that he had to walk that distance to school because he was given only a penny to buy lunch at school and he could not afford to spend everything on transport.
During weekends or when he was out of school, Young Ala Adjetey accompanied his father, who was a farmer, to his farm.
In those days, he explained, areas such as Cantonments, Labone and Burma Camp were all farmlands. He also helped in household chores such as fetching water and keeping the house tidy.
Living in a fishing community and having a father who was also a fisherman, Young Ala Adjetey was expected to know how to go to sea at a young age. But that was not the case.
Hear him: 'I was too young then. I went to the beach but never learnt how to go to sea.”
Young Ala Adjetey's dream of having secondary education was nearly shattered when it was time to go to secondary school.
His parents were unable to raise about £16 to add up to a scholarship he had won to study at Adisadel College.
He explained that the scholarship was £35 a year, while his fees for the year was £51. Left with no other choice, he sadly declined the scholarship.
But luck later smiled on him when somebody informed him that Accra Academy had just become an approved government secondary school so he could go there as a day student if his scholarship could still be maintained.
He, therefore, appealed to the then Education Department, now the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, for the scholarship to be transferred to Accra Academy.
And that was done for him. During his first year at Accra Academy, Young Ala Adjetey had to walk to school every day from La, but he was never late to school.
Eventually, he entered the boarding house after he had won another scholarship. At Accra Academy, he was the editor of the school's journal and a house prefect as well.
His adherence to discipline also made students describe him as a strict person.
He completed secondary school in 1951 and had another scholarship to study at the University College of the Gold Coast (now the University of Ghana, Legon), the only university in the country at the time.
That year, he and two others were the only students from his school who won scholarships for direct entry to the university college without going to Sixth Form.
After his two-year intermediate Bachelor of Arts programme, he started an honours degree course in Sociology, with Prof K.A. Busia, the first African Professor at the university and then Head of the Sociology Department, as his lecturer.
He, however, abandoned his Sociology course midstream after winning yet another scholarship from the Government of Ghana to study law in Britain.
He studied Law at the University of Nottingham and graduated in 1958 with Second Class (Upper Division) honours.
He also did a summer course in Public International Law in the Netherlands.
He returned to London, and after successfully passing his exams, he was called to the English Bar in February 1959.
He returned to Ghana in May 1959 and worked at the Attorney-General's Office as an Assistant Crown Counsel.
From there, he went into private practice and had been doing so ever since, except for the four years he became the Speaker of Parliament from 2001 to 2005.
The 76-year-old former Speaker of Parliament had held a number of positions, including being the former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and President of the African Bar Association.
Mr Peter Ala Adjetey was a wonderful caring father and a remarkable legal advocate. He instilled such great values in his children. He had so much pride in his children and used every opportunity given to talk about their achievements.
He will be greatly missed by his family and anyone and everyone who had the opportunity to know him.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Frye
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