@papalong666: Today, 14 October 2026, marks five years since the death of Joseph Kofi Adda, Ghana's last substantive Minister for Aviation. He died in the early hours of Thursday, 14 October 2021, on arrival at Legon Hospital in Accra, aged 65. Joseph Kofi Kowe Adda was born on 22 April 1956 in Navrongo, in the Upper East Region, to Mr Askia Felix Adda and Madam Patricia Dimadane Adda. He began at Adda L/A Primary and Middle Schools, then attended Notre Dame Minor Seminary in Navrongo (1969 to 1974) and St John's College in Sekondi for his Advanced Level. He earned a BSc in politics and economics from Indiana Wesleyan University, then a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, specialising in finance and banking. He also obtained a graduate certificate in African Studies from Columbia and a certificate in French language and civilisation from the Sorbonne. He began as an executive officer at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1979. He later worked at Essex County College in New Jersey, Thomson McKinnon Securities in New York and Deloitte and Touche Consulting in Accra. From 1994 he directed Omni Consulting International (Ghana) Limited, and between 1996 and 2000 he worked in various capacities at the Ministry of Finance. He entered Parliament in 2003, winning the Navrongo seat in a by-election after the death of John Achuliwor. He retained it in 2004 and 2008, lost it in 2012 and reclaimed it in 2016. Under President John Agyekum Kufuor, he served as Minister for Manpower Development and Employment and later Minister for Energy. Under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, he was nominated in January 2017 as the first Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, a new ministry split from the ministries of Works and Housing and of Local Government, and took office after parliamentary approval in February. In 2018 he moved to the Aviation Ministry. He lost the NPP primary ahead of the 2020 election. The Aviation Ministry was a standalone ministry created in Akufo-Addo's first term. In January 2021, as the President cut the number of ministries from 36 to 28, the Presidency announced that Aviation would be merged into an enlarged Ministry of Transport. Mr Adda was not retained, and Kwaku Ofori Asiamah took charge of the merged ministry. That is why he remains the last substantive Minister for Aviation. He worked towards the vision of making Ghana an aviation hub for West Africa. During his tenure, new facilities rose at the airport, including an Air Navigation Services office complex, a headquarters for the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and an apron able to park up to 13 aircraft. His ministry also set up the Accident Investigation Bureau and signed an agreement with EgyptAir towards a new national carrier. In 2023, the then Transport Minister credited Mr Adda and his predecessor at Aviation, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, with laying the groundwork for the Prempeh I International Airport terminal in Kumasi. That airport is now known again as Accra International Airport. In February 2026, the government restored the original name, replacing Kotoka International Airport, after the Ministry of Transport cited historical records and consultations. The facility is also being expanded, with a new concourse linking Terminals 2 and 3 and a multi-purpose car park and hotels complex at Terminal 3, all financed by the Ghana Airports Company Limited and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority. International traffic has risen from 1.8 million passengers in 2022 to 2.5 million in 2025. This is the growth his vision anticipated. He was a Catholic Christian, married with two children, Justin and Allison. Parliament described him as a selfless democrat and peacemaker, respected on both sides of the House. President Akufo-Addo remembered him for his diligence and forthrightness. He was laid to rest in Navrongo in February 2022. Baabi a mifiri.

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Wednesday 14 October 2026 04:16:38 GMT