Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has revealed a part of his life that tells the strength of his dearly departed wife, Theresa Kufuor.

According to the statesman, Theresa Kufuor delivered their fifth child and took care of their five children all by herself.

Kofi (Owusu Afriyie Kufuor), their fifth child, was born on June 16, 1972, by "a single parent," as the former president says in his tribute to his deceased wife.

Former President Agyekum Kufuor explained that it was not of his will to not be present when Theresa delivered. He had been arrested and was serving a 15-month jail term following a coup d’état on January 13, 1972.

Kufuor, who was appointed Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1969 after being elected MP for Atwima Nwabiagya under the Kofi Abrefa Busia government, was one of 54 government officials thrown into the Ussher Fort prison.

According to the former president, for almost 8 weeks, they were denied contact with family.

But "this angel of a woman, to my amazement, would survive the ordeal of raising five children on her own – in my absence, Aba gave birth to our fifth and last child, Kofi, as a single parent on 16 June 1972."

He posited that Theresa Kufuor's "strong and exceptionally disciplined personality did indeed come to the rescue of our family."

"I could not have foreseen the crash that befell us and could not, therefore, have made any provision for our ordeal. However, Aba rose above that. With her strong, prayerful faith in God, Aba’s spirit would not and could not be broken. She survived on very little then; and she truly kept our hopes alive," he added.

The statesman, who was then in his thirties, noted that he was left with a sense of optimism that was most assuring Theresa was allowed to visit him in prison.

"I survived my incarceration of 15 months largely because of Aba. She was a woman of sacrifice, devotion, humanity and resilience," he said.

Today, a state burial is being held for the late Theresa Kufuor who departed from this world at her residence in Peduase, surrounded by her family, on October 1 at the age of 87.

The final funeral rites will extend into the weekend, concluding on November 18 at Heroes Park in Kumasi.

The late Theresa Kufuor is survived by her husband, five children, and 14 grandchildren.

In 1969, I got elected as a Member of Parliament of the Second Republic (for Atwima Nwabiagya in the Ashanti Region). I then also got appointed as Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under the premiership of the late Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia. So, our young family had to relocate from Kumasi to Accra. Aba, to my delight, took our evolving life in her stride as she adjusted effortlessly, and with confidence, to our new milieu of a life in national politics and diplomacy.

Between 1969 and 1971, with both Aba and me in our early thirties, our lives seemed to be on an upward trajectory. But this was to be truncated with a shocking and unexpected coup d’état on 13 January 1972, which arrested practically all the members of the government and threw us in prison. Our world had crashed.

Fifty-four of us, including cabinet ministers, junior ministers and some Members of Parliament, would remain in jail for a minimum period of between 12 and 15 months each; having initially endured – incommunicado, for almost eight weeks – denial of any contact with family or the outside world at Ussher Fort prison. This angel of a woman, to my amazement, would survive the ordeal of raising five children on her own – in my absence, Aba gave birth to our fifth and last child, Kofi, as a single parent on 16 June 1972. Her strong and exceptionally disciplined personality did indeed come to the rescue of our family.

I could not have foreseen the crash that befell us and could not, therefore, have made any provision for our ordeal. However, Aba rose above that. With her strong, prayerful faith in God, Aba’s spirit would not and could not be broken. She survived on very little then; and she truly kept our hopes alive. When allowed to visit me in prison, she left me with a sense of optimism that was most assuring. I survived my incarceration of 15 months largely because of Aba. She was a woman of sacrifice, devotion, humanity and resilience.