Dr. Kwadwo Opare Hammond
The Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Dr. Kwadwo Opare Hammond, has passed on at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after a brief illness.
His death, which occurred on Friday, was characterized by doubts about its authenticity.
As his sympathizers and others were mourning his death, a news item appeared which suggested that he was only in a coma.
No sooner had this piece of good news been received than an announcement on social media that he was indeed dead.
A voice purported to be that of his brother denying that he was dead fueled the early doubts about his death.
Dr. Opare-Hammond, a former Director of Finance and Administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was relieved of that post in 2014 following charges of insubordination to the then National Chairman of the party Paul Afoko.
He landed an appointment as CEO of PMMC in 2017 which did not surprise many.
One of his legacies at PMMC is his brokering of a deal between the company and the Ghana Royal Gold Company Limited towards the establishment of a maiden gold refinery in the country.
It is a novelty which would create opportunities for Ghanaians in the jewelry industry and serve as a means of adding value to precious minerals before exportation.
This feat notwithstanding, he suffered stressful moments in 2018 when staff of the PMMC accused him of procurement impropriety which made disturbing headlines in the media.
The dismissal of workers under his tenure was described by employees as heavy-handed and indiscriminate.
President Akufo-Addo was at his residence on Saturday to sympathise with the bereaved family.
He goes down in the history of Adenta as the maiden MP, having been elected after the constituency was carved out of the Ashaiman Electoral Area in 2004.
By A.R. Gomda