I was shocked to hear about the passing away of Margaret Safo, the immediate past Editor of the Mirror. I had not known of her short illness and so there had been no hint at all that this tragedy was about to occur. My condolences go to her family.
I remember the first day I saw Maggie very clearly because that first encounter probably set the rest of her life on its course. She came to see me in my office when I was the Editor of The Mirror in 1986 or 87.
She came in without notice or appointment but in those pre-mobile phone days making prior appointment was not the norm. In any case, we encouraged an open door policy at The Mirror and many people dropped in sometimes just for a chat.
Maggie explained straightaway that her passion was writing and she wanted to work for The Mirror. She said she had been in Nigeria with her husband and had just returned to Ghana.
I asked if she had already done her National Service before leaving Ghana, and spotted the opportunity to take her when she responded in the negative.
I must confess that it did not hurt her when I learnt that she was a past student of Okuapeman School, my own Alma Mater.
I explained to her that it would be easier for her to come in as a National Service person and persuade the powers at the then Graphic Corporation to keep her on after that. I explained further that this would depend on her performance and would not be automatic.
She started work that same week and was easily integrated in The Mirror team. I put her on the “society beat” where she covered “Human interest” stories, especially those that concerned women, children and family situations. She proved to be a natural for this work.
Apart from working on her own page, Maggie was helpful in putting the newspaper together every week and even provided support when necessary for the Daily Graphic’s own “Society Page”.
I did not know then that she would become one of the most prolific novelists of our time in Ghana. However, even then I could tell that she had a penchant for adding flourishes to her writing although she was meticulous with facts and did not mix fiction with journalism.
Maggie became the Editor of The Mirror after the retirement of my successor, Mr Provencal, shortly after I returned to Ghana after living abroad. Maggie invited me to write a column for The Mirror and I accepted, and christened it the “The Diary”, which still runs in the newspaper.
A few years after that I became the President of the Ghana Association of Writers and among our programmes is the Schools Outreach Programme which is setting up literary Clubs in every senior high school in Ghana with the support of the Ghana Education Service, the Book Development Council and the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools.
We have launched the programme in every region in Ghana and invariable at these launches we asked the students about their favourite authors.
I think Maggie’s husband, children and family can take comfort in the fact that she is by far the favourite author of Ghana’s younger readers.
It appears that over the past 20 years a healthy percentage of teenagers at any particular time have read her books which she writes under the name “Peggy Oppong.”
From all indications Maggie had a steady hand as Editor of The Mirror and assured her own legacy through her creative writing.
I join her family and colleagues to mourn her passing but celebrate a life that was creative and engaging.
