Late broadcaster, Kwadwo Asare Baffour Acheampong (KABA) read so many letters but one. The content would have filled him with pride.
He didn’t read it not because it was not delivered to him but kept in the hearts of many. The message was hidden from the intended recipient.
In a profession where praise is rare and rationed just like the way food was rationed in 1983, knowing the impact one’s work is having on the society is worth-savoring and refreshing. But the ‘83 rules obtain today in media practice.
The content of the letter is littered in the hundreds of tributes that poured in following KABA’s death.
It reads:
Dear Kwadwo:
It’s a big thing and a big issue. Yes, your death like others has been so painful that words and wailing cannot adequately express the grief and shock you’ve left behind. Kwadwo, everybody is lost for words because the emptiness you have created has left your loved ones in deep sorrow.
Your mother Felicia Amoah Ampeyin (Akosua) could not control her tears anytime she turned towards the casket that will be your new home.
Chale your death has left The Multimedia Group inconsolable as team members gathered at the funeral ground haggard “with a deep sense of loss and disbelief.”
If only you could see, you will realize their faces have betrayed their anguish but they are united in their resolve to see you off in a manner deserving of only you.
“It is impossible to believe that KABA’s sincerity, integrity, calm and dignity will no longer enrich our team meetings; that his experience, wisdom and kindness will not be available to us his colleagues, and that his commitment to duty, drive for justice, fairness and balance in his work will no longer be available,” The Multimedia Group said in tribute to you.
Your wife Valentina has been paralysed by pain caused by your death but she needs an answer to a question that will continue to plague her.
“What should I tell Nana Yaa when she asks of Dada?” she said, broken with her veins vibrating at the thought of your passing.
“Kwadwo can I ever stop asking WHY?” Valentina wants to know.
The Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) is grateful for the work you did and the honour you brought journalism.
“KABA was very soft and gentle with his guests, whether in the studio or on the telephone. But he was very robust and firm in his engagements with them. He gave everybody a chance to be heard, regardless of one’s political affiliation, social class or educational status,” GJA president Affail Monney said.
Your impact is immeasurable and the words of president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, ex-presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Mahama are laden with messages that should have been delivered to you while alive.
But the good news (Asempa) that you brought to the world will stay on and your words will become a fountain which will continue to spill wisdom to those who want to know how to distinguish themselves in the journalism field.
If words mean anything, these are the ones your loved ones want you to know and take along as you join your maker.
With love
Sign
Your loved ones
 |
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