Komla Dumor buries mum

A burial mass has been held at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Adabraka, Accra for the late Mrs. Cecilia Joana Kokui Dumor, 63, who passed away on December 13, 2008.

The late Mrs Dumor was the mother of Ms Mawuena Dumor, Corporate Services Director of telecoms operator, MTN; Komla Dumor of the BBC and formerly of Joy FM; and Dr. Korshie Dumor, Physician college of Physicians & Surgeons, Colombia University, New York, USA.

She was also the wife of Professor Ernest K. Dumor, Advisor to the National Identification Authority.

The ceremony witnessed a large attendance by a cross section of the society, among them politicians, diplomats, academicians, clergymen and the business community.

His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah-Turkson, the Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle (Archbishop of Accra) and Most Rev. Francis Lodonu, (Bishop of Ho) were among officiating ministers.

Vice President John Mahama; ex-diplomat Victor Gbeho (a brother of the deceased); Messrs Kwasi Twum, CEO of Multimedia Group Ltd; Herbert Mensah of Fortia Limited, Mrs Joyce Villars of Camelot, Kojo Bonsu of Agoo Magazine, Mr. Kojo Armah and Prof. George Hagan, both of the Convention Peoples Party, were among the many dignitaries to attend the ceremony and to sympathise with bereaved family.

Born to the late Philip Gbeho, musician and composer of Ghana’s national anthem, and Hilda Dennis, a trained midwife, the late Mrs Cecilia Dumor was an educationist, editor and publisher of several textbooks for second cycle programmes and courses.

In tributes, Professor Dumor described her late wife as “a strong woman of faith, a strong woman of courage” who “gave full expression of an enduring love for me and the children. No wonder the last words you spoke to me before losing your speech testifies to how seriously you took your nuptial vows. Even as you were in pain and tears were rolling down your face, you continued to express your unfailing love. You called to me Daddy! Daddy! I love you and I love you very much. I am forever grateful.”

Mawuena recalled fondly how her late mother, in teaching her how to cook and manage a home alongside academic and professional interests, skillfully tasked her to undertake certain chores thus; “My dear, I am certain that you will be the CEO of some great company, but you still have to chop those onions and that garlic for me!” Mawuena said her mother’s lessons have made her a better woman, and she also recognizes that “a young woman can be respected for her independence and self-assurance at work as well as her humility, spirituality and commitment to family at home,” all of which values she owed to her mother.

Tributes
For Komla, her mother’s unyielding faith and inner fortitude in the face of failing health will forever remain some consolation:

“For those who knew my mother you would know that for the greater part of her adult life she was in constant pain, pain that crippled her body and bound her to a wheelchair for almost 2 decades. Pain that made her grit her teeth just to do everyday things that we all take for granted. There was emotional pain too. The pain of hopes raised and dashed after every surgery, after every trip to the doctor. But in all these times, I never saw or heard my mother cry out, complain or vent in frustration. She kept working for Ghana, kept cooking for her family, kept being a mother to Mawuena, Korshie and I and a wife to her husband, my father. She never lost faith in God and every Sunday she braced herself for the pain of getting dressed, getting into a car, getting out of a car and the pain of every bump along the road but she was in church regardless.”

Komla was hopeful his mother is resting peacefully in the arms of her maker.

Korshie remarked; “My memories of her will always be filled with her knowing smile and the time that she spent with each one of us. She was always there when we needed her. The world is a poorer place because she is not in it. But in death as in life we shall follow her example. Yes we weep, yes we feel the sharp pain of her loss but above all we celebrate the time that the Good Lord has granted us with her.

“Whenever the grief of her loss appears too great to bear, we will remember her ever present smile. Now free of earthly restraints, we rejoice in the knowledge that she is finally in a place where there is only joy. Till we meet again her love and faith that she so willingly shared with all around her will carry us through.”

Several other tributes also described the late Mrs Cecilia Dumor variously as a virtuous woman worth celebrating.

A thanksgiving service will be held at the Holy Spirit Cathedral on Sunday, January 24 at 9am.

Story by Isaac Yeboah