John Mahama mourns ‘true statesman’ KB Asante

Former President has paid tribute to the late KB Asante following his demise in the early hours of Monday.

The former State Secretary gave up the ghost on Monday at the age of 93.

Former President John Dramani Mahama said in a Facebook post that he is saddened by the demise of renowned Ghanaian diplomat, Kwaku Baprui Asante, popularly known as K.B. Asante.

K.B. Asante, who died at age 93, was described by John Mahama as “a foundation of wisdom from which we all drunk freely.”

He wrote:

Received the sad news of the passing of ‘uncle’ K.B. Asante. Statesman, Diplomat and Civil Servant extraordinaire. His experience straddled our early pre and post-independence era. A fountain of wisdom from which we all drunk freely is shut. Condolences to his family, the Nkrumahist group, and indeed all Ghanaians.

About K.B. Asante

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K.B. Asante passes on at 93

Born on March 1, 1924, K.B. Asante was the Secretary to Ghana’s First President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and served under a number of Heads of States in Ghana.
He also served as the Principal Secretary at African Affairs Secretariat from 1960 to 1966.

He became Ghana’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the United Nations Offices in Geneva, and the UN establishment in Vienna, and also the Ambassador to Australia from 1967-72.

He also served as the Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Economic Community from 1976-1978.

Life in politics

K.B. Asante retired from the Civil Service in 1978, to form the Social Democratic Front to contest the 1979 election where his party won three parliamentary seats in that election.

He was the Secretary for Trade and Tourism in the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) administration in 1982, and later Secretary for Education and Culture from 1986 to 1990.

Education

K.B. Asante attended Achimota School where he later taught mathematics from 1945 to 1948, before proceeding to Durham University in Britain, where he obtained a BSc Mathematics in 1952.

He also became a member of the Institute of Statisticians in 1953, before again returning to Achimota College, where he continued teaching mathematics from 1953 to 1955.