Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah retires after 31 years of service
The Bono and Ahafo Regional Correspondent for the Daily Graphic, Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, has gone on retirement after 31 years of active service.
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Of these years, 19 were spent with the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL).
In appreciation of God’s mercies and protection throughout his career to retirement, a special thanksgiving service was held for him at the Glory Congregation of the Presbyterian Church at Dr Berko, a suburb of Sunyani in the Bono Region.
The service, themed: "Retirement Thanksgiving Service in honour of Mr Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah," was also meant to thank God for the knowledge and strength given to him to work for 31 years during which time he chalked up numerous achievements on the journalism journey.
Mr Adu-Gyamerah was joined by his family and friends, including his wife, Comfort Pokuaah, children-Vera, Nancy and Victor Adu-Gyamerah, his grandchildren, some staff of the GCGL, politicians, as well as some heads of institutions and organisations.
Notable among the well-wishers were the Tain District Chief Executive (DCE), Dr Lucy Acheampong; the Ashanti, Bono and Tamale Zonal Manager of the GCGL, Martin Omari Sarfo, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation, Raphael Godlove Ahenu, among other dignitaries.
After the service, Mr Adu-Gyamerah was helped by his family and some of the dignitaries to cut his 60th birthday cake.
Be truthful
In his special sermon, the Bishop of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Rt Rev. Alfred Appiah Andam, who also led the thanksgiving service, urged journalists to be truthful in their reportage.
He said journalism was a form of ministry and, therefore, should be done accurately and in truth in order to achieve its intended purpose.
He also advised journalists to also be accurate in their reportage about the government, even if they were not on its side.
Rt Rev. Andam further charged young journalists to emulate Mr Adu-Gyamerah's humility, hard work and dedication to duty that he exhibited and which endeared him to many people.
The Minister in charge of the Glory Congregation of the PCG, Rev Daniel Okai Lartey, said despite Mr Adu-Gyamerah's busy schedule, he showed commitment to the work of God.
He said Mr Adu-Gyamerah played crucial roles in the church when required of him at different times, and as a Christian, it was in order for him to have come to the presence of God to thank him for his mercies and protection.
Commitment
On behalf of the GCGL, Mr Sarfo commended Mr Adu-Gyamerah for his commitment and dedication to duty during his active service.
“In all the roles you were assigned, whether as a parliamentary correspondent, or special events reporter and, indeed, as the regional correspondent for the Bono, Ahafo and Bono East areas, you discharged your role creditably.
Mr Sarfo said Mr Adu-Gyamerah had produced several stories that had yielded positive results and which had won him several awards, attributing the feat also to his dedication to duty and diligence.
Various speakers at the event praised the celebrant for his humility and commitment to work and prayed for good health and long life for him.
Grateful
Mr Adu-Gyamerah, who was overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and high commendation for his work, expressed gratitude to all those who had contributed to the successful organisation of the thanksgiving service.
He gave the assurance that though he had retired from GCGL, he would continue to support as and when his services were needed, particularly, in the region.
Awards
In the course of his career, Mr Adu- Gyamerah won nine awards.
These were the Best Student in Arts and Culture subject during the graduation of the 1992 cohorts of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Best Journalist, Parliamentary Reporting by the Ghana Journalists Association in 2011; Best Journalist, Disability Reporting (Print) at the 23rd GJA Awards 2017.
Also, he won the Best Journalist, Domestic Tourism, at the 25th GJA Awards, 2018; Overall Best Journalist, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo GJA Awards in 2019, and again in 2019, he was adjudged the Best Journalist, Disability Reporting, at the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo GJA Awards.
The rest were the Best Journalist in Features Writing in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo GJA Awards, 2019, adjudged the Best Journalist by the Daily Graphic in 2012 and awarded Best Journalist by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for his reportage on Tourism in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo area in 2019.
Work life
After his secondary school education at Berekum Secondary School, he proceeded to the Ghana Institute of Journalism where he earned a Diploma in Journalism upon completion in 1992.
He undertook National Service with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and after that, he continued to work as a stringer in Sunyani for the GNA for two years, before being fully employed in December,1995.
His work took him to Goaso, now the Ahafo Regional capital, in the year 2000 where he served for two-and-a-half years before being transferred to the headquarters of the GNA in Accra.
He rose through the ranks to become a Chief Reporter at GNA before being employed on August 1, 2004 by the GCGL.
Writer's email: [email protected]