Death is an eventuality for every human being, but it is the way it sometimes comes that leaves relations and loved ones devastated.
Few people have impacted the world with their sudden demise, and these have been people who had impacted their generation during their lifetime.
The death of global icons such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Princess Diana and national budding artistes such as Terry Bonchaka and Suzzy Williams shocked the entire world and the nation because of the sudden nature of their demise.
Those deaths have always reminded the living that everyone is born to die one day.
However, no one was ready for the news of the sudden death last Saturday of the ace broadcaster of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Komla Dumor, who first cut his teeth as a journalist at Joy FM, the local private radio station.
From a humble beginning as a Mobitel Traffic Watch reporter, Dumor, who had jettisoned his earlier dream of becoming a medical doctor, virtually birthed morning radio talk show in Ghana with the Super Morning Show on Joy FM, a daily programme that attracted a large listenership during the 10 years he hosted it and where he got the accolade, “The Boss Player”.
His gravitation to the BBC came as no surprise due to his dedication to professionalism, balance and the desire to succeed, which won him the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Journalist of the Year award in 2003.
At the BBC, he did not only endear himself to the global listeners and viewers of the programmes he hosted on both television and radio but also sold Ghana to the whole world with his excellence and gradually became an icon of professionalism and good African journalism.
For executing his work so flawlessly while being proud as a Ghanaian and an African and telling the African story the African way on the global stage, we believe he deserves a state burial and we join the GJA in proposing that he be accorded one.
No wonder his sudden death has attracted torrents of tributes from both present and past leaders of Ghana, the influential and people we may term as ordinary and colleagues in the entire African region, as well as those working on the global front.
His death also speaks volumes about the stress journalists go through to bring the news to their audiences and reminds all in the profession to seek regular checks on their health.
This is confirmed by the passing away in the evening of Saturday of Sammy Hesse, another young and budding Ghanaian journalist, formerly of Metropolitan Television (Metro TV) and at the time of death with e-tv, due to health problems.
However, what should guide all of us is the professionalism that was exhibited by Dumor in his work. That is what the GJA, the National Media Commission and all Ghanaians have always emphasised, so we can continue to give voice to the voiceless in a non-partisan manner.
The lesson from Dumor is that as we hold people to account, we should also be accountable to the society we serve. As the watchdogs of society, we should avoid the posture of ‘publish and be damned’. Journalists must be able to justify the stories they write — if a story cannot be proved, it should not be published.
The Daily Graphic extends its condolence to the bereaved family and asks the Almighty God to give them the strength to withstand the pain and anguish during these trying times.
Komla Dumor, rest in perfect peace.
