Accra, March 5, GNA- President John Agyekum Kufuor has directed that former Chief Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu should be given state burial.

The body, the President said should be laid at the forecourt of Parliament for government and the public to pay due respect and accord the late head of the Judiciary, who served the nation with distinction, all the honours.

The Director of State Protocol is therefore to liaise with the family for the necessary arrangements in this direction. Receiving a delegation of the bereaved family at the Castle, Osu, President Kufuor paid glowing tribute to the late Chief Justice, saying, he was honourable and carried himself with dignity.

The President conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family and said Ghana had lost a public servant of distinction. Justice Wiredu, the President said, acquitted himself well both at the Bar and the Bench, adding "we mourn him with the dignity that he expects of us."

The delegation, which included the Queen Mother of Kumawu Traditional Area, Nana Serwaa Amponsah Konadu, the widow and children, was at the Castle to formally inform the President of the death of the late Chief Justice.

Justice Wiredu, who served as Chief Justice between the years, 2001-2003, died on January 31, this year, at the ripe age of 73, leaving behind a wife and nine children.

Also at the Castle was another delegation of Chiefs, elders and opinion leaders from Saboba Traditional Area. The group was there to officially announce the death and funeral arrangements for the late Uchabobor Kwayadin Sakojim Bowan III, Paramount Chief of the area. The Spokesperson for the delegation, Ubor Dalafu Labal II, Chief of Sanguli, said the late Paramount Chief would be given traditional burial on March 15, 2008.

Aged 98, the late Paramount Chief died on December 5, last year. President Kufuor described the deceased traditional leader as someone who was gracious and a statesman. The President said it was proper the delegation was at the Castle to inform him of the death of the late Paramount Chief and promised to join the people of Saboba to give him a fitting funeral.