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At a certain point in life, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur has says she has stopped feeling the need to respond to everything.
At a certain point in life, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur has says she has stopped feeling the need to respond to everything.
What matters to her now is something much simpler: peace.
The former Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur’s wife opened up about how her outlook on life has changed with age during an interview with Kafui Dey.
Reflecting on the lessons she has learnt over the years, she said she has become more deliberate about the battles she chooses to fight.
“I’ve learned that I stand my ground,” she said.
“I speak the truth. I stand out for what I believe in. But I’m wiser.”
That final word “wiser” appears to capture the difference between simply having an opinion and knowing when it is worth expressing it.
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur acknowledged that some of her comments over the years have generated controversy.
But she said she has also learnt that not every question deserves an answer.
“And so in my old age, I’ve learned that certain questions don’t need an answer. You just go back.”
For her, the desire for peace has increasingly taken priority over the desire to be noticed.
“You want peace.”Kafui Dey remarked
“I want peace,” she replied.
Then came what may be one of the most striking lines from the interview:
“At this age, peace is more important to me than attention.”
The statement reflects a philosophy that appears to extend beyond public controversy.
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur said she does not force relationships or beg people to remain in her life.
“I don’t force relationships. I don’t go and beg.”
Instead, she said she prefers to stay in her own space, do what she believes is right and give her best to the things she chooses to do.
“I like my peace. I stay in my corner. I do right. I live right.”
Her approach also applies to work.
She explained that if she accepts a job, she makes a conscious decision to do it properly.
“You give me a job. If I want to do it, I take, do it well. I don’t want to do it, I don’t take it.”
The philosophy comes after decades of professional and public life.
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur worked as a librarian, publishing consultant and author, and was also publicly known as the wife of former Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. Following her husband’s death, she later became a bereavement counsellor.
Yet throughout the interview, she repeatedly returned to the importance of continuing to live her own life.
Even while her husband served as Vice President, she said she continued with her work.
And after his death, she eventually channelled her experience into helping others dealing with grief.
Her current outlook appears to be less about proving a point and more about preserving her peace.
“I don’t like controversy,” she told Kafui Dey.
She acknowledged that she has sometimes said things that have brought controversy, but added that people have also misunderstood or taken her words out of context.
That, she said, has taught her to be more careful about which conversations she enters.
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