New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin have paid tribute to Samuel Arthur Odoi-Sykes, a founding father of the party.
The NPP announced Odoi-Sykes’s death in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, on Wednesday, October 8.
Dr Bawumia said Odoi-Sykes had played a significant role in the party’s history, particularly during its first general election victory in the Fourth Republic in 2000.
“He holds an honoured place in our history, having led the Party to its first general election victory in the Fourth Republic in 2000,” Dr Bawumia wrote on Facebook.
“His service to Party and country will long be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.”
Mr Afenyo-Markin also described Odoi-Sykes as part of a generation of patriots who helped shape Ghana’s democratic development.
“Chairman Odoi-Sykes belonged to that remarkable generation of patriots who understood that democracy must be built with extraordinary courage, defended with unshakable conviction and sustained through selfless sacrifice,” he said in a statement.
He added that Odoi-Sykes had helped guide the NPP to its historic electoral success in 2000, a result which contributed to a peaceful transfer of power and reinforced Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
“At a defining moment in our nation’s political history, he helped lead the NPP to its historic electoral victory in 2000, contributing to a peaceful democratic transfer of power that strengthened Ghana’s Fourth Republic and affirmed the sovereign will of the Ghanaian people.”
Mr Afenyo-Markin said Odoi-Sykes’s time as Minority Leader had been ended by the military overthrow of Ghana’s Third Republic and the abolition of Parliament in 1981.
However, he said, those events did not diminish Odoi-Sykes’s commitment to parliamentary democracy or his belief in the importance of lasting institutions.
“Although his tenure as Minority Leader was cut short by the military overthrow of Ghana’s Third Republic and the abolition of Parliament in 1981, his commitment to parliamentary democracy endured,” the statement said.
“He understood that political leadership was not simply about winning power, but about building institutions strong enough to outlive those entrusted with leading them.”
The Minority Leader said Odoi-Sykes’s contribution should be measured by his commitment to public service rather than the length of time he held political office.
“His life reminds us that the highest measure of public service is not how long we occupy positions of authority, but how faithfully we serve the ideals that give those positions meaning,” he said.
He offered condolences to Odoi-Sykes’s family, loved ones and the wider Danquah-Busia-Dombo fraternity on behalf of the Minority Caucus.
“Today, we mourn a founding father of our political tradition, a devoted servant of the Republic and a man whose place in Ghana’s democratic history is secure,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.
“Chairman Odoi-Sykes has completed his earthly journey. But the democratic ideals he championed, the political tradition he helped build and the nation he served will carry his legacy forward.”
