Theodosia Okoh goes home tomorrow

The sports fraternity will  join the expected huge crowd of mourners who will gather at the forecourt of the State House tomorrow to show their last respect to fallen national icon, Mrs Theodosia Salome Abena Kumea Okoh.

Mrs Okoh, who died last April 19,  at the age of 92, will be given a state burial which will begin with a burial and memorial service at the forecourt after which the remains will be interned at the Osu Cemetery.

According a a family spokesman, Mrs Okoh will be laid in state tomorrow morning  at the forecourt, which will also be the venue for the burial service.

The thanksgiving service will however, be held at the Ridge Church on Sunday after which the family will gather at her residence for the final funeral rites.

Famed for designing the national flag, Mrs Okoh was equally popular in sports, beginning as a national hockey star who would go on to be the first and to date, only female to chair the Ghana Hockey Association. Until her death, she was also a patron of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG)

When the news of her death broke, the Presidency ordered that flags flew at half mast for three days in her honour.

This was followed by a call by the family on President John Dramani Mahama, during which the Chief of Staff also hinted that the state would play a role in giving Mrs Okoh a befitting burial.

SWAG will be there

The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) will be part of the hundreds of mourners who will gather at the State House to say their final farewell to Mrs Theodosia Salome Okoh tomorrow.

Mrs Okoh, who was one of the long-serving members of the SWAG will be buried tomorrow at the Osu Cemetery.

Apart from her invaluable role as  one of the key advisors to the association in her active years, Mrs Okoh was also one of the few women who rose through the ranks to take up the prestigious position as SWAG patron.

She had been honoured at different times by the association, first for her effort at developing hockey and then later as the Chairperson of the Year.

She was again honoured at the 40th anniversary of SWAG for her role in securing the land on which the national hockey pitch is currently sited.