Senior citizen and retired diplomat Kwaku Baprui Asante has died.

The family of the 93-year old statesman has confirmed his passing but gives no further details.

They are expected to issue a formal statement in the next few hours.

Mr. Asante was secretary to Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah and served in the civil service for more than 20 years.

He entered politics after quitting the civil service in 1978. The statesman kept a column Voice From Afar published in the Daily Graphic for many decades.

Asante, who was a Catholic, marked his 90th birthday in 2014 explaining that he wanted to see the number of people who would show up at his funeral.

Educational background

Mr Asante, born on March 6, 1924, attended O’Reilly Educational Institute, Tudu, Government Junior Boys’ School, Adabraka, and Government Senior Boys’ School, Kinbu, from 1927 to 1937.

He also attended Achimota College Upper Primary and Secondary School from 1938-1942 and obtained a degree in Mathematics at the University College, Durham University.

Career

Mr Asante was a senior Mathematics tutor at the Achimota College from 1954-1955.

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

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

Mr Asante retired from the Civil Service in 1978 to form the Social Democratic Front to contest the 1979 elections.

The party won three parliamentary seats in those elections.

He was the Secretary for Trade and Tourism in the PNDC administration in 1982 and later Secretary for Education and Culture from 1986-1990.