l hadknownAuntieCeci fromafar as anAchimotan 6th form classmate of my revolutionary comrade and former Minister of Finance, Kwame Peprah, and as a staff of the Ministry of Trade working with my senior brother Ato Ahwoi, then PNDC Secretary (Minister) for Trade. She was beautiful and she was friendly, always with an infectious smile on her face. But it was when she was appointed by President Jerry JohnRawlings tobemyDeputy at theMinistry of Local Government and Rural Development that I got to know the real Cecilia Johnson, the brilliance behind the beauty. I could not have asked for a better Deputy. The fact that she was 5 or 6 years older than me did not bother her at all. For her, I was her “boss” and there was work to be done, and that was all that mattered. She called me “Agya” (old man), and I called her “Awo “(old woman)”. We made a wonderful working pair. Cecilia was a fast learner and quickly caught on to the “Decentralisation” Agenda that we were rolling out at the Ministry at the time. She was eager to work and never refused any assignment. She was also full of initiatives and came up with imaginative ideas which helped shape the new local government system that the PNDC had introduced some seven years earlier. So close was our working relationship that some political gossipers even began spreading rumours that “gyama ye hye ho” (maybe we were dating). But no! Awo was just determined to ensure that we succeeded in the local government adventure that Jerry John Rawlings had gotten us to embark on. It was such a joy working with her. Let me tell the story of the day that Awo turned into a “ghost”. I was in my office when Awo’s driver burst in without knocking, panicky and looking haggard and distraught. “Minister”, he blurted out, “Auntie Ceci has turned into a ghost!” From Professor Kwamena Ahwoi (Former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development) T R I B U T E 1 1946 MRS. CECILIA JOHNSON 2025 72 A Loving Farewell
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