Tears flow for Rosemond
Hundreds of mourners turned out last Saturday at the funeral for the Stanbic Bank worker who was murdered in her house at Baatsona in Accra to bid her final farewell.
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The 32-year-old Ms Rosemond Nyampong, who worked in the Credit Department of the bank, was laid to rest amid emotional scenes at the Osu Cemetery in Accra.
Friends, workers and management of Stanbic Bank and family members who attended a church service for the deceased wiped away tears when her casket was lifted for burial and carried to the Osu Cemetery for the final journey.
Ms Nyampong was found dead in a pool of blood in her kitchen on November 21, 2013 in her rented apartment at Baatsona in Accra, where she lived alone.
Tributes
The mother of the deceased, Mrs Florence Nyampong, wept uncontrollably at the burial service held at the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Dominion Centre, as her body was ushered into the church, and when tributes were read.
Tributes read by siblings, the church, and colleagues from Stanbic Bank described her as a kind person who assisted people without asking for a favour.
While her siblings eulogised her leadership qualities, organisational skills and for being a strong-willed person, her colleagues said she was industrious and full of life.
“Simple, infectious with a cute face, never missing a smile and would burst into heavy and uncontrollable laughter when the occasion called for it. We will miss all that. Indeed, a large vacuum has been created not only in our Credit Department but also throughout the bank,” said a tribute from Stanbic Bank.
Among the mourners from Stanbic who were spotted in their corporate blue textile print were the Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Mr Alhasan Andani, and the Human Resource Manager, Ms Ernestina Danquah.
In a brochure distributed during the funeral service, a friend of the deceased, Marian Neena Kwofie, wrote; “Rose, you will be greatly missed. God grant you eternal rest in His bosom. I pray the angles guide you safely to the land where there is no more pain or evil. RIP my girl.”
The KICC young adult ministry, of which she was a member, said they would miss Ms Nyampong for her contribution to the church as she “never hesitated to offer suggestions to the leadership of the church”.
Don’t seek vengeance
The Resident Pastor of KICC, Pastor Andy Yawson, in a sermon, said “I know right from the day you heard about the death of Rosemond, you have been longing to know what actually happened. We cannot demand from God an explanation.”
The sermon was based on Proverbs 29:22 which read; “An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.” Considering the circumstance under which Ms Nyampong died, Pastor Yawson stated that it was natural for the family to be angry “but you have to deal with your anger.”
Anger, he explained, was a natural product of pain and, in the case of the family of the deceased, the pain of losing a loved one was an expected reaction.
“Angry can dive you to say things you do not want to say or even do something against God.”
He advised the family members not to be vindictive as “in times like this vengeance is very attractive” and noted that vengeance was of the Lord’s.
“God will expose every secret. Everything that happens in darkness will be exposed. Whatever happened on that day and prior to that day, God himself will bring it to the fore,” he said.
The pastor, however, said he was not against the law taking its course; “the law ought to take its course. Let the law take its course.”
When her casket was being lowered into the grave where her late father was buried six months ago, sympathisers and family members who had gathered at the graveside could not control their tears and many of them were seen wiping up their tears.
Biography
At the family house of Ms Nyampong at Ofankor in Accra, a framed picture of the young lady with an infectious smile that showed dimples on both cheeks rested in a chair, while mourners filed past to console her mother and other family members.
Ms Nyampong was born on April 26, 1981 and was the first of four children of Mr George Nyampong, who passed away six months ago, and Mrs Florence Nkrumah Nyampong.
She held a BSc degree in Administration and Human Resource Management from the Central University College and an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Economic Policy from the Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands.
In 2005, she started her working career with Metropolitan and Allied Bank and then moved to Atlantic Merchant Bank as a teller for some months before joining the Stanbic Bank in 2006, where she worked as an account management officer in the Credit Department until her death.
Police investigations
Police investigations into the incident which has attracted headlines in the media in the past week has led to the arrest of one suspect, Abraham Baah Kwame Oyortey, a 25-year-old welder.
He was arrested from his hideout at Krobo Odumase in the Eastern Region upon a tip-off, being in possession of a vehicle belonging to the deceased.
Some other items belonging to the deceased, including a television set, a DVD player, a sound system and three speakers, were retrieved from the suspect’s residence, which was a few blocks away from the deceased’s house.
A Tema court has remanded him in police custody to reappear on December 21, 2013 on a provisional murder charge.