Ekow Yamoah's death leaves a crack in The Mirror
It is with a broken heart that we (The Mirror) pay this tribute to our departed colleague, Ekow Yamoah, who was called to eternity by his Maker on July 19, 2014.
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The late veteran journalist will be buried tomorrow, Saturday, September 6, 2014 at Gomoa Obuasi in the Central Region.
The bond that existed between us the permanent members of staff of The Mirror and Ekow Yamoah got stronger as the years progressed. This bond was strengthened by his regular visits to The Mirror news room in Accra to file his stories (court stories) for publication.
Ekow Yamoah, a former stringer with the Ghana News Agency and the Central Regional Correspondent of the Ghanaian Chronicle, expressed his interest to contribute to The Mirror in 2000.
Initially, when he expressed that desire, the then News Editor, Mr Eben C. Sam, asked him to send some of the stories he had written to enable him to make a good assessment of him.
Satisfied that the man was capable, Mr Sam then informed the Editor at the time, Mr E.N.O. Provencal, about Mr Yamoah’s desire to be a stringer with The Mirror.
Mr Provencal did not hesitate and gave Mr Sam the green light to work with him; and that was how Ekow Yamoah’s stories became a regular feature on the news pages of The Mirror and the Daily Graphic for a little over a decade.
Later on, when the former editor, the late Margaret Safo, took over, she acknowledged the input of Mr Yamoah and was impressed with his output.
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She therefore decided to create a Law Court Page in the paper in order to accommodate the numerous court stories that were filed by Ekow Yamoah, as well as other reporters and correspondents.
Throughout the period that Ekow Yamoah had been a stringer with The Mirror, he distinguished himself as a credible reporter.
There were times, especially during the “drought season”, when judges were on vacation, that the team had relied on him heavily for court stories from his Agona Swedru base.
Most of the time when he was in Accra, he always gave us (The Mirror Team) a rundown of events in his community and the impact of his stories on the people.
He reported to the team on one occasion that he had been threatened with death by one aggrieved litigant who did not take kindly to a story written about his attitude in court which was published in The Mirror.
We all got frightened because of the death threat and asked him to report the conduct of the man to the police.
As media practitioners with vast experiences there were times we had our disagreements over some of the angles of his stories.
However, after sharing ideas with him, he was humble enough to make changes to those stories.
Ekow Yamoah was taciturn but remained a good mixer. He was always interested in feedback on his stories, the hallmark of a good reporter. He did follow-ups to his stories and hardly started a story without ending it.
He had a quiet disposition and his ability to tolerate all and sundry enabled him to work with different people at various periods at The Mirror.
His contribution to The Mirror was invaluable and since his demise, we have felt the crack that his departure has created in The Mirror.
We will surely miss him. May the almighty God find a resting place for him in His bosom.
Damirifa due! due! due!
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