A former Minister of Aviation under the Akufo-Addo-led government, Joseph Kofi Adda is dead.
According to reports, Mr. Adda was taken ill shortly after he returned to Accra from a trip to Navrongo.
Sources say the former Navrongo Central Member of Parliament was rushed to the Legon Hospital in Accra for medical attention but died in the early hours of yesterday.
A former Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, also confirmed the death of his former colleague on social media and commiserated with the family.
He wrote, “News of your death has come to me and members of the 7th parliament as a shock. You never showed any sign of leaving soon. Rest well Hon. Member and a Colleague. You will forever be remembered. Rest In Eternal Glory, Snr. May the Good Lord repose your beautiful Soul until the last day of the resurrection when we shall all meet again.”
About Kofi Adda
Joseph Adda was born at Navrongo, the capital of the Kassena-Nankana District in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
He had his secondary education at St. John’s School, Sekondi, and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Politics and Economics from the Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana, the United States, which he attended between 1979 and 1982.
Between 1982 and 1984, he was at Columbia University, New York, where he studied for a Master’s degree in International Affairs, specialising in Finance and Banking.
He went on to get a graduate certificate in African Studies from the same university.
In 1989, he obtained a certificate in French language and civilization from the Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Adda’s political career
Mr Kofi Adda first became a legislator in 2003 after winning the Navrongo Parliamentary seat in a by-election.
This was after the death of the then-incumbent, John Achuliwor and subsequently retained his seat in the 2004 general election.
In 2005, he was appointed as the Minister for Manpower Development and Employment and later became the Energy Minister in April 2006.
He was subsequently replaced at the Ministry by Felix Owusu-Adjapong.
In 2008, Joseph Kofi Adda retained his seat when the NPP lost the general elections but lost in 2012 to Mark Woyongo.
He won the seat back in the 2016 election then, lost it to Upper East Regional Minister Tangoba Abayage in the NPP’s parliamentary primary ahead of the 2020 election.
Mr Adda was appointed as Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources in 2017 and later moved to head the Aviation Ministry.
