Former Second Lady Hajia Ramatu Aliu Mahama who died last Thursday at age 70 has been laid to rest in Tamale.
She was buried next to the tomb of her late husband, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the first Muslim Vice President of Ghana at their private home at Kalpohin in the northern regional capital.
Earlier, an Islamic funeral ceremony was held Saturday morning at the Independence Square in Accra for the late Ramatu Aliu before the body was flown to Tamale.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, wife of Vice-President Samira Bawumia and Minister for Interior, Ambrose Dery and other government officials were all at the Islamic funeral ceremony to pay their final respects to Hajia Ramatu.
Vice President Bawumia later led government delegation to carry the mortal remains to Tamale in the company of her spouse Samira, members of the Aliu Mahama family and some government officials.
The body arrived at the Tamale airport at about 2:32pm and was conveyed to the Tamale Jubilee Park where a Muslim prayer (Salat al-Janaza) was performed before the interment.
Mrs. Aliu Mahama died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where THE CUSTODIAN has learnt she was under medical care for heart complications.
Mr. Farouk Aliu Mahama, the first male son of the deceased in an interview with Journalists thanked the hundreds of mourners from across the country, President Nana Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who supported the family during the burial.
“My mom was an angel brought into this world, she did all that she could in all her life to selflessly help people, impacting knowledge in people, being prayerful – my dad was calling her a Mallama, my mom’s prayer has brought me where I’m today”.
Farouk Aliu Mahama recounted that the happiest moment of his mom was when he was declared the Member of Parliament (MP) elect for Yendi but it didn’t take the deceased a week when she took ill after the swearing of the son as a lawmaker.
“So my mom has been tentatively ill for almost one and a half years, she never benefited anything from me as a son as to what I wanted to do for her. So, it’s a sad moment but I know my mother is in Jannah Inn Sha Allah and I know that if you do good, good will follow you wherever you go”, he asserted.
Sharing his fond memories, the Yendi lawmaker recalled his dad used to fight the mother because of him whilst growing up full of life and the youthful exuberance.
“Every child is loved by the mom. When I go out and come back, my father would say I shouldn’t go out again but when I did, my father would get angry at my mom that my mom was spoiling me, it even got to the point that my dad threatened to divorce her because of me”, he recalled.
According to Alhaji Farouk, his mother’s love for him was not by coincidence but the affection she had for her father, Imoro Egala, whom the son was named after.
Ibrahim Mahama eulogises Hajia Ramatu
Amongst the high-profile personalities who mourned with the bereaved family was Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama.
The business mogul in an exclusive interview told THE CUSTODIAN that the late Hajia Ramatu looked after him when he was about four, five years when his mother went for work.
He indicated that the deceased was a big sister and her demise was a great loss to all in the family.
According to him, the deceased taught him a lot of things including how to ride a bicycle, how to read and write but only reunited with Mrs. Aliu Mahama after 20 years in 2004.
“Hajia is a lesson to all young women, she was a great sister, mother, wife to all of us and her absence is going to create a huge vacuum for us”, he regretted.
Mother-in-law
Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, former Member of Parliament for Mion and Deputy Minister for Agriculture disclosed to THE CUSTODIAN the deceased was his mother in-law.
He explained the former Second Lady was the younger sister of Hajia Salamatu Yahaya Egala, the biological mother of his wife.
The former NDC MP disclosed that his last interaction with the deceased was before her trip abroad for medical treatment but he never had the opportunity to meet her before her demise.
“I never knew that was her final message that she was giving to me and my family. She spoke a lot about general life, admonishing us not to chase too much material wealth because at the end of it all”.
The former MP said he was touched by message from Hajia Ramatu Mahama when she said, “I’m lying on this bed just alone, even my personal wear I can’t reach upstairs, so you’re chase the wealth but with a lot patience”.
Meanwhile, the family has announced that the first Islamic prayer (Adu’a) will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 in Tamale before the final funeral rites at a later date.
