Several sympathisers have thronged the family house of the late former Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at Cape Coast in the Central Region to commiserate with them following the demise of the former statesman.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur passed away after he collapsed while exercising at the Airforce Gym at 37 in Accra Friday morning.

Tributes have poured in from several sympathisers across the country including President Akufo-Addo and his vice, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Presidents Mahama and Rawlings among others.

Early life and education

Amissah-Arthur was born at Cape Coast. His mother is from the Hutchful family and his father is from the Amissah-Arthur family, both from Cape Coast. He completed his secondary education at the Mfantsipim School, where he obtained the GCE Ordinary Level in 1969 and the GCE Advanced Level in 1971. He proceeded to the University of Ghana at Legon, where he obtained the B.Sc. in 1974 and M.Sc. in 1976, both in Economics.

Economics and consultancy

Amissah-Arthur was a research assistant at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research between 1974 and 1975. He later joined the Economics Department as a teaching assistant from 1977 to 1978, going on to become an assistant lecturer in 1979.

He lectured at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1988. He has also been a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Anambra State College of Education, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria (August 1981 – July 1983).

He worked as a consultant for the World Bank in The Gambia. He also served as a consultant for the Netherlands' government education project in Ghana. He then worked as Senior Economist for the Sigma One Corporation in Ghana between 1998 and 2000. Between 2001 and 2002, he was on assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Politics

From 1983 to 1986, Amissah-Arthur served as a special assistant to the Secretary of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwesi Botchwey, in the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) government.



Subsequently, he was Deputy Secretary for Finance in the PNDC government from February 1986 to March 1993. From April 1993, he continued as the Deputy Minister for Finance in the Rawlings government after the establishment of constitutional rule until March 1997.



Amissah-Arthur was appointed as Governor of the Bank of Ghana in October 2009 by President John Evans Atta Mills. He held that position until August 6, 2012, when he became Vice-President of Ghana following the death of President Atta Mills.



Personal life

Amissah-Arthur was married to Matilda Amissah-Arthur with two children. He was a Christian and was known to worship at the Calvary Methodist Church at Adabraka in Accra.