Late Rashid Bawa: From independent MP, Minister of State to top diplomat

The death was reported on Thursday, March 14, 2024, of Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Ghana's High Commissioner to Nigeria.

The incident is said to have occurred at his base in Abuja.

The Ghana News Agency reports that his corpse is expected to be flown back to Kadjebi in the Oti Region on Friday, March 15, for burial in line with Islamic customs.

The late Bawa, a lawyer by training, had deep connections with Ghana's parliamentary politics, having served in two previous Parliaments.

He also served as a one-time deputy minister before taking on diplomatic roles in Saudi Arabia and, since 2017, in Nigeria.

GhanaWeb tracks his politico-diplomatic footprints

1. Won the Akan Constituency seat as an Independent Candidate in the 2000 election.

2. He retained the seat in the 2004 election.

3. His first ministerial job was as Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports from 2001-2004.

4. In the second term of the Kufuor administration, he was appointed Ghana's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2005-2008.

5. He has been High Commissioner to Nigeria since 2017.

6. Bawa was eyeing a return to Parliament in the 9th session. He was, in December 2023, elected the Akan Constituency's New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate (PC) for the 2024 General Election.

He polled 492 votes to beat his closest contender, Mr Tassah Safiwu, who had 103 votes, with Alhaji Tanko Yakubu, the third contender, garnering 17 votes.

Alhaji Bawa was also the NPP PC in the 2020 polls.

SARA

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