Book Of Condolence Spread Out At Dubois Center In Honor Of Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo

Some sections of the general public and sympathizers, including fanatics of literary works, have begun commuting to the W.E.B. Dubois Memorial Centre in Accra to commiserate with the bereaved family of deceased connoisseur Ghanaian author, Professor Ama Ata Aidoo.

This comes to a book of condolence spread out in tribute to the later Professor at WEB Dubois Memorial Centre in Accra on Wednesday, June 7, by the family.

The late vociferous playwright, author and poet’s bereaved family had declared that they would sit from Wednesday till Friday, June 9 at the Memorial Centre from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day to welcome mourners and sympathisers.

Notables

Renowned public constituents who came by to sign the book of condolence on the first day included Learned Attorney Tsatsu Tsikata, a member of the advisory board of Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) and former National Media Commission Chairman, Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Mary Chinery-Hesse, Ghanaian filmmaker and writer, Kwaw Ansah, and the 2020 flag bearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Brigitte Dzogbenuku.

Furthermore, alumnae of Wesley Girl’s Senior High School were also in attendance, especially her 1958 year group mates and Pan Africanists from the Diaspora.

The environment at the centre was sober with family members and sympathisers fraying black apparel to symbolize their grieving disposition.

Nana Gyan-Apenteng mentioned that the demise of Ama Ata Aidoo was a painful one and marked the extinction of a substantial era in the country’s history.

He clarified that Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo was the last of the independent age writers, including Efua Sutherland and Joe Degraft, “who emerged and defined the Ghana situation through literature and for that, this is a very significant moment.

It is almost like passing the torch to the younger generation which is already the generation coming after her”.

“Now the torch has been handed over and we have to be alive to our responsibility as writers and also chronicle what is going on in our lives at the moment”.

Nana Gyan-Apenteng communicated the assumption that the late Ama Ata Aidoo would be honoured with a suitable state interment.

Her Literary Legacy Lingers

rs Chinery- Hesse characterized Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo as an individual who displayed the reasonable traits of enlightening a girl child and therefore was a role model to the youthful populace, particularly young Ghanaian females.

“This is a very sad occasion but I think it’s good that we are all here because we appreciate the life she lived and we are here also in our numbers because we honour her so much and the effort she has put into the art of living and everybody remembers her especially because of her writing”, she uttered.

Another astute Filmmaker Literary colossus, Kwaw Ansah spewed that the deceased as a creative artist was a “solid woman” who was passionate about the African struggle in terms of freedom and development and therefore although she was gone, her ideas would never die as “the generation coming will follow Ama Ata Aidoo so that we get out of the gutters we are in”.

President of Wesley Girls Senior High School Old Girls Association, Effie Simpson, also used the platform to espouse the achievements of Prof. Aidoo. To her, the learned professor would always be praised by the school as she served as a groundbreaker with profound literary proficiency.

Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo until her passing on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at age 81 was the Life Chairperson of the Ghana Association of Writers annual literary festival called GAWBOFEST.