Ex-President John Mahama
EX-PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has paid tribute to the late Minister of Education, Lee Ocran, who died on Thursday, February 21.
Family sources say Mr. Ocran who also served as the High Commissioner to South Africa and ex-MP for Jomoro, during the NDC administration passed on shortly before midnight Thursday at his residence in Accra.
And speaking in interview with Accra-based pro-NDC FM station Radio Gold on Friday, Mr. Mahama eulogized the late Minister.
According to him, “It’s been a sad morning for me. I just want to express my condolences to [Auntie] Sati and the children on the passing of our comrade, Lee Ocran. Lee has been a fighter in the trenches. We’ve been in the trenches together. For everybody who knows him, we have lost a very fine member of our party. May his soul rest in perfect peace. “
He promised that “I will be visiting his family this afternoon to extend my condolences. I visited him while he was in the hospital. Our hope was that he would get better, unfortunately, it’s God who gives and He takes and so my sincerest condolences to Lee Ocran’s family especially Auntie Sati,”
Mr. Ocran served as Minister for Education of Ghana from 2012 to 2013. Ocran was appointed Minister by President John Atta Mills in February 2012 in a cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Betty Mould-Iddrisu from the government and the sacking of Martin Amidu.
In 2000 he was Deputy Minister of Environment Science and Technology.
He was Member of Parliament for the Jomoro Constituency until he lost his seat to the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, Samia Nkrumah of the Convention People’s Party in the December 2008 parliamentary election.
In February 2014, Ocran was sworn in as board chairman of the Volta River Authority. On May 13, 2015 he described the Bui Dam as a White Elephant (extravagant but burdensome gift).
He will be remembered for taking palm kennel oil to the house of parliament to ridicule the discovery of oil by then President John Agyekum Kufuor’s NPP administration.
BY Melvin Tarlue