Pix: The happiest man in the BBC newsroom when Ghana qualified for the FIFA World Cup, Brazil
If there is one weekend that Ghanaians would forever remember, it is the week ending the second week of January 2014 which the nation lost valuable people, men and women of substance, who have and would have contributed immensely to the development of Ghana.
The heart-breaking one was the death of the BBC’s icon, Komla Dumor, who passed away Saturday morning in London after a short illness.
Prior to his death on Saturday morning, Komla Dumor was on set Friday evening and hosted the Focus of Africa programme, a programme on the BBC.
Mr. Dumor had also been nominated the Face of the BBC for the World Cup in Brazil this summer.
The 2003 winner of the GJA Journalist of the year, hosted Accra-based Joy FM’s Super Morning Show for ten (10) years before proceeding to the BBC in 2006 where he hosted a number of programmes including the BBC World News, Focus on Africa, Network Africa.
He was the only West African news reader on the BBC World news until his death.
Dumor achieved his feat in journalism without a journalism background.
He studied medicine but changed course and graduated from the University of Ghana with a BSc in Sociology and Psychology and from Harvard University with an MA in Public Administration.
His unique voice, passion, and an incredible attention to detail catapulted him to higher heights in journalism.
Mr. Dumor has interviewed some of the greatest world leaders, including former US President, Bill Clinton, former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.
He was married to Kwansema Dumor, with whom he had three children. He was 41.
Since news of his death broke, tributes have been pouring in with some coming from friends in the media and also personalities who knew or have heard of him during his exploits.
President John Dramani Mahama has eulogised the late presenter as a “broadcaster of an exceptional quality and Ghana’s gift to the world.”
The president, like millions of Ghanaians, took to social media, twitter, to express his condolence as regard the passing of the Ghanaian journalist.
“It is with great shock and profound sadness that I learned of the sudden death of one of the most illustrious sons of Ghana, the internationally-acclaimed BBC TV broadcaster, Komla Afeke Dumor.
“Komla was a hardworking, dedicated and consummate professional, who blazed a trail, from his days of great success as Ghana’s most popular broadcaster with Joy FM in Accra, where he won the Ghana Journalist of the Year award, to his inspiring rise at the BBC in London.
…Komla was a friend, a brother and a patriot, who cared very deeply about Ghana and Africa and also about global leadership that serves people and improve lives.
His brilliant broadcast work during the recent passing of South Africa’s global icon, Nelson Mandela, was hailed by many around the world.
He always sought every opportunity to share his deep passion for Ghana’s success.
He called on me during his last visit to Accra and we discussed varied issues relating to Ghana and Africa.
He invited me to take better advantage of BBC’s strategic reach to project the positive achievements Ghanaians are chalking.
In his passing, Ghana, Africa and indeed the world have lost a great, dedicated and wonderful human being and world broadcaster. May his soul rest in peace.
…On behalf of my Government and the people of Ghana, I wish to express my deepest sympathies and condolences to his wife, Kwansema and the children and also to his father, Professor Ernest Dumor, his siblings Mawuena and Korshie and the entire family.
Our sympathies also go to his colleagues at the BBC and in the international broadcasting and journalism fraternity,” President Mahama posted on his official facebook wall.
Former President Kufuor also eulogised as a man of substance who was an Ambassador for the country.
“He was only 41 and looked so fit. It is unbelievable that such a thing will happen to him now…I knew him and at a point I asked him to serve on a board for the youth… he was a social person, always with a smile and quite polite to the society. A bright broadcaster with great promise but who has been cut off midstream,” President Kufuor stated.
An accident involving students from the University of Development Studies (UDS) who were returning to school after the Christmas break also claimed the lives of three people with her with other passengers on board a Metro Mass Transit (MMT) sustaining various degrees of injuries.
The accident occurred at Nkenkaasu, near Akomadan in the Ashanti Region.
Meanwhile, a former journalist with Metro TV, Samuel Hesse also died last night in a fit of an asthmatic attack.
The 35-year-old drove himself to a clinic where he later died. Hesse got married just a month ago. He worked with Metro TV for about eight years.
Source: Ghana | todaygh.com | Kwaku Nti