By
Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, July 19, GNA – Mrs Yaa Oforiwah
Asare-Peasah, the outgoing Acting General Manager of the Ghana News Agency, has
been honoured by the Board for her meritorious service to the Agency after 37
years of service.
In a citation of honour endorsed by Professor
Olivia Frimpong Kwapong, the Chairperson of the Board, described the
performance of Mrs Asare-Peasah as exceptional and being the first woman of the
Agency to serve in different positions.
It recognised her unmatched successes
including being the first woman of the Agency to occupy the position as News
Editor, Supervising Chief Editor, Deputy Director of Editorial and Acting
General Manager.
The citation read: “Achievements are often
attained by many within considerable periods of time, but yours took a
relatively shorter time to be noticed after your appointment to the high office
of Acting General Manager of the Ghana News Agency.
You have not only shown sterling leadership
and managerial acumen but also offered freely, your accumulated wealth of knowledge
for the growth and survival of the Agency, which you served tirelessly for over
37 years”.
It also made reference to her unique qualities
of being an excellent leader backed by strong institutional memory, that
enabled her to restore some level of stability and esprit de corps that had
placed the Agency on the path of re-organisation and possible prospect of
revitalisation.
In her acceptance speech, Mrs Asare-Peasah
expressed appreciation to God, Government, the Board, National Media Commission
and the entire staff for their support and co-operation during her tenure of
office.
The outgoing Acting General Manager said she
was encouraged by the Holy Scriptures that advised Christians to serve humanity
as service to God and, therefore, was not bothered by the various challenges
that came her way.
Mrs Asare-Peasah also thanked the staff of the
Agency for their support over the years. “I could not have achieved all these
without your support, prayers, pieces of advice and hard work, as I came this
far not by myself alone”, she said.
Mrs Asare-Peasah joined the GNA on May 1, 1981
as a reporter and rose through the ranks to the position of Acting General
Manager until her retirement in June this year.
As a health reporter years back, she travelled
far and wide to cover several conferences on health and health related issues,
including the International Conference on Ageing in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the
International conference on Cancer in Washington DC, US.
She also covered conferences in Switzerland,
South Africa, Sweden, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Gabon, among others.
Mrs Asare-Peasah received an Award from the
Ghana Journalists Association as the best Health Reporter in 1999. She later
served the Association for nine years (2000-2009) as the Treasurer and an Executive
member.
GNA