RI Alhassan was legal legend – Akufo-Addo

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Sunday described the departed Rowland Issifu Alhassan who passed away recently as a legal legend.

The 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) showered plaudits on the memory of the late lawyer, the first from the Northern Region during the Islamic funeral organized for his soul in Tamale last Sunday.

Lawyer Issifu, who passed away on 14th April 2014, according to Nana, was referred to as a legend of the legal profession.

Recounting his first encounter with the deceased, Nana Addo said he first met him when as General Secretary of the broad based People’s Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ) he elicited the support of R.I Alhassan in the “NO” Campaign during the UNIGOV referendum of 1978.

This, he pointed out, eventually led to the ousting of the Acheampong military government in 1978 and an eventual restoration of multi-party democratic rule to the country in 1979.

He described the deceased as a man of principle and fairness recounting two admonitions he gave him during his tenure as Attorney General and Foreign Affairs Minister.

He added that his advice impacted positively on his life and career.

“The nation and party have lost an extraordinary man,” Nana Addo added.

He expressed his condolences to the family and urged them to stay strong in these trying times.

The ceremony attracted a high-powered delegation from the NPP, led by party chairman, Paul Afoko, who was accompanied by some of his national officers, government, led by Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, the People’s National Convention (PNC) led by its party chairman, Alhaji Ramadan and the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

Tributes were read by his wife, children, former Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Third Republic, the NPP and Government.

He was the MP of Chereponi in the Northern Region in 1965, which he occupied until the coup d’état in 1966.

In the late 70s, he joined the Popular Front Party led by the late Victor Owusu and stood as MP in Tolon in 1979 and was duly elected Member of Parliament.

He was also the leader of the opposition at the time of the 1981 coup. In the early 90s, he invited members of the Danquah-Busia club to meet in his house to discuss party politics, which was the beginning of the formation of the NPP.

In 1992, he was elected as vice presidential candidate of the NPP, led at the time by Prof. Albert Adu Boahen. When the NPP won the 2000 elections, under the leadership of President Kufuor, the late R.I Alhassan was appointed Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2006.

He remained active in politics and was appointed NPP Regional Campaign Chairman in the North in the 2008 elections. He was also the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the NPP for the Northern Region. Even during illness, he was consulted to resolve many party issues.