A strong contender to the late Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim North Constituency, Hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, in the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) primary, Mr. Andy Appiah-Kubi, has stated that people should focus on how to give the late Minister a befitting burial rather than who succeeds him in the area. According to him, although he was a strong contender to the late Hon. Baah-Wiredu, at the moment he has not finalised the decision as to whether he will contest the seat or not because Ghana has lost a great human resource who Ghanaians, including himself, must finds a means of giving a deserving respect. In an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Observer last Thursday in Accra, Mr. Appiah-Kubi maintained he was wealthy enough and can decide not to go into politics but he was pressured by a group of opinion leaders in the area who thought he could also contribute immensely to what Hon. Baah-Wiredu had done for the constituents. Although Hon. Baah-Wiredu had done tremendous developments in the area, he stressed his legal background and other business connections could further enhance the developments of the constituency should the electorates give him the mandate to represent them in Parliament. Mr. Appiah-Kubi divulged that the strong challenge he gave to the late MP rather unearthed certain potentials in him and rapid developments in the area which were laudable. He added that their political competition in the recent Parliamentary primary could never be tagged as negative development at all, since it offered an opportunity to the electorates in the constituency to elect the best Parliamentary candidate who can effectively champion the course of development in the area. After Hon. Baah-Wiredu defeated him, Mr. Appiah-Kubi revealed that he had spoken to him on phone on how both could foster unity and development in the area, saying that "since it was healthy political competition I have since given him all the support he needs from me." Expressing his condolence to the family of the late Hon. Baah-Wiredu, he described the late MP as a brother and charged the people in the constituency to embark on a course that will bring development and unity to the area. The 56-year-old Hon. Baah-Wiredu, who died in a South Africa hospital after a short illness, was born in Asante Akim Agogo and started his secondary education at Kumasi High School in 1967. He obtained the GCE Ordinary Level Certificate in 1972 and had his Sixth Form education at Prempeh College also in Kumasi. He proceeded to the University of Ghana in 1974 and obtained a B.Sc in Administration (Accounting option). Hon. Baah-Wiredu then did a four-year course with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1985 and subsequently worked at various positions with the now defunct Ghana Airways and the Volta River Authority and a senior consultant on computer systems as well as Finance Manager of Ananse Systems. Additionally, he was a partner in Asante Wiredu and Associates, an accounting firm, prior to being an MP. He was also one of the campaigners against the Union Government (UNIGOY) concept put forward by General Acheampong's Supreme Military Council (SMC). He joined the NPP when it was formed in 1992 and became its MP for Asante Akim North since 1997 to date. Hon. Baah-Wiredu became a Minister in President Kufuor's administration in 2001 and held the portfolios of Local Government and Rural Development (2001-2003) and Education, Youth and Sports (2003-2005) and finally Minister of Finance and Economic Planning till date. Source: Observer