TRIBUTE TO THE LATE SAMUEL BEST ENNIN, ASHANTI REGIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION

(BY GJA NATIONAL EXECUTIVE)

Gunmen last month gunned down Samuel Best Ennin, the Ashanti Regional Chairman the Ghana Journalists Association in cold blood for reasons that the entire country is struggling to comprehend. He was having drinks with some colleagues near his office. Nearly two months on, the Ghana Police Service is yet to unearth any clue or bring anyone to justice. Mr Ennin is however due to be buried on Saturday March 31, 2007. Below is a tribute in his honour by the National Executive of the Ghana Journalists Association:


Death they say is a natural disaster and always a grief to bear; the Ghana Journalists Association has experienced that many times. This year, we have already seen at least two of our members cross the river. First, it was the departure of our senior colleague and friend Thomas Brentuo, then Eastern Regional Chairman of the Association. It was followed just about a month ago by our young colleague Kwarteboi Owoo. Now it is Samuel Best Ennin who goes. We cannot but agree with Edna St. Vincent Millay:

“Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, and the kind;

Quietly they go; the intelligent, the witty, and the brave.

I know, but I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”

Every death must be difficult to bear, more so, that of Samuel Ennin. This is because he was not allowed to die a natural death. Two wicked cowards walked to him while he was relaxing on that fateful Friday, February 9, 2007 with some friends after a hard days work, at a drinking spot in Kumasi and shot him dead.

He was the Ashanti Regional Chairman for two terms running. He was elected 2004 – 2005 and was re-elected in 2006 for his dynamism. He loved his work and loved to serve. He loved the post of Chairman and loved to be called Chairman.
 

He was a Chairman who was constantly in touch with the Press Centre in Accra, discussing with the GJA national executive on how things could be organised and improved on the media front in the Ashanti Region.

In fact, the GJA General Secretary spoke with him the Wednesday before that black Friday. There was to have been a Media/Small Scale entrepreneurs Dialogue with the Director of the Ghana Standards Board. But it had to be postponed due to circumstances beyond the Association’s control. Chairman Ennin called to inquire about why the programme had been postponed.

If there had not been a postponement perhaps some of us would have seen him one more time in his enthusiasm, running around to ensure that the GJA programme in his region succeeded. But would that have kept death at bay? We shudder to think that death has eventually snatched him away.

Chairman Ennin’s dedication and commitment to work and the development of journalism in Ghana came as no surprise to many who knew him in his student days at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where he graduated with a Diploma in Journalism in 1991.

He was an active member of the Student Representative Council of the Institute. He was politely argumentative and was a hard debater. He stood for justice and for the weak and poor in society.

When he went on internship from GIJ he worked so hard and endeared himself to both his colleagues and seniors. It therefore came as no surprise when the Free Press offered him a job as a reporter soon after he came out of the Institute.

While at Free Press he won the Best Environmental Reporter in 1998 at the GJA Awards. Chairman Ennin believed in tradition and so will be remembered for being the only award winner who wore kente to that award ceremony.

He simply was a jolly good fellow. Who can console us on this great loss? Nobody except God our Father in Heaven; and so we rest our case and wish to seek consolation in Him:

“Lord, it belongs not to my care

Whether I die or live; to love and serve Thee is my share,

And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad that I may long obey;

If short, yet why should I be sad to soar to endless day...”

(Methodist Hymn 647)

Chairman Ennin, forgive the world for its cruelty; death is never kind and so you too are gone; gone just like all others once born. But we know you are not too far away; you have just passed over to the other side, where we all are headed. One by one we cross the river; so we shall see you again some day.

In fact “There is no death; what seems so is only a transition. Death is but a path that must be trodden if man would ever pass to God”. (Henry Wadsworth)

Adieu Chairman Ennin.

Fare thee well Kwabena.

God be with you till we meet again
 

BY GJA NATIONAL EXECUTIVE, March 29, 2007