Accra, March 5, GNA - Former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has praised the late National Democratic Congress (NDC) Matriarch, Regina Akua Wenyonu for her respect for values and dedication to principles. "We must always pay our respects to such people. If we have to worsh= ip anything it should be righteousness because it is closest to God," he sai= d. The former President was speaking during a call on him by the family o= f the late Wenyonu at his office in Accra.

Flt Lt Rawlings said with the sense of dedication and commitment that the deceased had for the party it was unfortunate that the NDC should be where it is today. "The most important ingredient for progress, justice, has still not been done. If we do not seize the moral high ground we will be in danger,= " he cautioned.

Spokesperson for Flt. Lt Rawlings, Mr Kofi Adams who welcomed the delegation said news of Regina Wenyonu's death was received with sadness. He said the deceased had the spirit of the NDC in her and she lived it= ..

"Her spirit should influence us to rededicate ourselves," he added= .. The Minister of Tourism and Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Ms Akua Sena Dansua who led the delegation alongside Togbe Amega-Goh, Dufia of Kpando Konda, said the party had lost a great pillar. The late Regina Wenyonu will be buried on Saturday March 5 in Kpando i= n the Volta Region.

The former President also received the family of the late Kwame Sanaa-Poku Jantuah, a stalwart of the Convention Peoples Party and Minister in the Nkrumah Cabinet, and former Ambassador to Brazil and the defunct Democratic Republic of Germany.

Flt Lt Rawlings said he respected the late Jantuah because he refused to take a subordinate position and always held his ground. "People like him helped to protect one from sliding. He was not corrupted by power and lived what he believed in," he said. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, President of the 31st December Women's Movement and former First Lady and Mr Adams took turns to commiserate with the deceased's family. Kwame Jantuah will be buried on March 26.