Solemn farewell for Grandmaster Godwin Avenorgbo

Members of the inky fraternity and sympathisers from all walks of life joined the family of the late Godwin Roosevelt K. Avenorgbo, to pay their last respects to the veteran broadcaster, who was known as “The Grandmaster”. 

At a solemn burial and memorial service held last Saturday (Sept 14) at the All Souls Chapel, Lashibi Funeral Home, various industry players in the communication field took turns to bid farewell to the artful storyteller whose voice as a master of ceremonies became synonymous with the National Farmers Day celebration, a programme he consistently moderated with panache.

The Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, who doubles as an Ambassador-at-Large; the Minister of the Interior, Henry Quartey; President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, who led a team of GJA executive, anniversary planning committee members and general membership to the event; a former Chairman of the National Media Commission, Kabral Blay Amihere; the two Joint Group Managing Directors of the Melcom Group of Companies, Ramesh Sadhwani and Mahesh Melwani; and the Managing Director of Citi FM and Channel One TV, Samuel Attah-Mensah, among others, were among the participants who joined the overflow crowd to honour the broadcasting icon who spent many years working as a broadcaster for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Director of Radio and later as the Director of Comminations at the Melcom Group of Companies.

The list also included chiefs from his hometown, Sokpoe, near Sogakope in the South Tongu District in the Volta Region, businessman and Executive Chairman of Engineers and Planners and Dzata Cement, Ibrahim Mahama; John Dumelo, who is aspiring to become Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress; actors, actresses, former radio and television broadcasters, among others.

Many of the mourners, including the immediate family members, were adorned in a mixture of white and black attire, colours which signify not just grief but a celebration of his achievements both in his profession as a communicator and in his private life as a successful communications consultant and family man.  

Service

During the service, a slideshow of Mr Avenorgbo’s lifetime milestones, including the moments when he received a certificate from the British Broadcasting Corporation Training School, London, in 1983, and his stint with Con Air Radio 2 Studio in London and his appointment as the first Chairman of the National Executive of GBC Fan Club were on display.

The service featured the El-Dunamis Mistrels, who rendered popular hymns, with intermittent reading of scriptures.

The casket of the Chairman of the GJA's 75th-anniversary planning committee was opened to the public at 1 p.m. for a final viewing, concluding at 2:11 p.m., with clergy offering prayers of comfort and salvation for the family of the beloved broadcaster, who passed away last month at the age of 78.

In a tribute, Chester Avenorgbo, one of his sons, described him as an educator, a motivator, an elevator and a true spirit of fatherliness.

“He had a way of guiding you to do positive things. And in the beginning, you might think he has a negative intention, but he had love behind everything that he did,” he said. 

Exhortation

In his exhortation, a minister from the Royal House Chapel, Rev. John Appiah-Kurang, urged the congregation to appreciate what he termed the non-negotiables of life, which included birth and natural death.

He said that life was a gift from God, stressing the need for everyone to make the most of it.

“We must take personal responsibility for what we do with our lives. Use the opportunity we have been given to become a blessing to others and make a positive impact,” he said.

Rev. Appiah-Kurang further urged the public to actively appreciate and encourage others while they were still alive, rather than waiting until after they had passed away.

Mr Avenorgbo was survived by his wife, Amy, and three adult children — Jerry, Cleopatra and Chester Avenorgbo.