Why Dzifa Attivor was buried at a police station in Abutia

Hundreds of thousands of sympathizers thronged Abutia-Teti in the Ho West District last Saturday, February 19, 2022.

They were there in a mournful and celebratory mood.

To mourn the passing of Madam Dzifa Attivor, a former Transport Minister under the John Dramani Mahama administration. But also to celebrate the life and times they spent with the deceased who died late last year after a short illness.

The events of that Saturday were a conclusion to a process that started at the forecourt of State House in Accra, where the pre-burial service was held on Thursday, February 17, before she was flown to Abutia-Teti.

After the elaborate funeral ceremony, the former Minister had final prayers said before she was interred at a post office.

Madam Attivor was interred at a Police station and post office complex she had built for the Abutia Township, a GNA report stated.

The burial was conducted amid multiple cannon blasts that reverberated through the surrounding hills.

The report explained further citing family sources that “the choice of the gravesite had been her request, and said it would be edified to help preserve her memory.”

GNA report about the funeral

The late Attivor, 65, died after a short illness late last year, and caught the sympathy of majority of Ghanaians, particularly members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of which she was a staunch member.

She was the transport minister from 2009 to 2013, and news of her demise lingered in heavily among the people of the Volta Region where she was a known patron of individual and community development initiatives, and where she also had established a multimedia broadcast company among other ventures.

A pre-burial service was held for the late Attivor at the forecourt of the Statehouse in Accra on Thursday before being flown to the Volta Region for the burial.

Several dignitaries including past and present Members of Parliament, political appointees, and other known individuals packed the traditional durbar grounds of Abutia Teti to pay final respect to the known politician.

Her children, in a series of tributes, said they would miss her comforting presence and wept through a recount of the sacrifices she bore, and her hope-filled struggle towards the end.

Former President John Dramani Mahama, who had honoured her with the Ministerial Position, led top executives of the NDC on a tribute, in which he acknowledged her work in expanding the various port infrastructures in the country.

He also noted her contribution to the activities of the NDC and said her departure would long be felt within the Party.

Staff and former employees of Ho based Global FM and V1TV, media enterprises of the late Ativor, shared the devastation of losing their main support barely years after takeoff.

Other tributes were read from branches of NDC, leaders of traditional areas, and other sympathisers.