Some residents in the Sunyani Municipality have expressed disbelief over the news of the demise of the former First Lady Theresa Kufuor, describing her death as “painful.”

The former First Lady was the wife of the former President John Agyekum Kufuor who served from January 07, 2001, to January 07, 2009. She passed away aged 88.

As the nation mourns the late former First Lady, residents in Sunyani in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said they would forever remember the late Mrs. Kufuor for her passion for child healthcare.

Daniel Dayee, a journalist said: “I was extremely surprised when I heard the announcement of her death. I least expected it, but what do we do if death roars its ugly face.”

He described the contributions of the late former First Lady to nurturing the country’s multi-party democracy as exceptional, saying “the former President Kufuor’s achievements in his two-terms of office can partly be attributed to the former first lady.”

“Looking from afar, it was glaring the former first lady was truly a virtuous woman who possessed the biblical trait of womanhood,” Dayee stated, adding, her support to former President Kufuor affirms the proverbial maxim that there is a woman, behind every successful man”.

Another resident, Mr Kwasi Adu Gyamfi, a private security and a political pundit popularly known in the political space as “Ice T Odumase” said “Ghana has indeed lost a heroine, a patriot and a true mother.”

“Mrs. Theresa Kufuor has really paid her dues to the nation, and as a stateswoman we must celebrate her. She really deserves a befitting burial,” he stated.

The late first lady had a long and illustrious career that started with her education at the Catholic Convent, OLA in the Volta Region.

She went on to study nursing in London and Scotland, specializing as a State Certified Midwife with a Certificate in Premature Nursing and thereafter, married John Agyekum Kufuor in 1962, and together, had five children.

Kufuor had a keen interest in the welfare of mothers and children and therefore founded the mother and Child Community Development Foundation, a non-governmental organization.

The NGO operates in Ghana and Canada and supports work in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of diseases.