The victims
The wife, children and mother-in-law of Pastor Ebenezer Ato kessie of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church who died in a blaze at Akokofoto, Dansoman near the Methodist University in Accra a week ago, were buried yesterday at the Gbawe Cemetery amidst uncontrollable wailing.
It was a solemn event, as Pastor Kessie, the widower, who is the pastor of the Dansoman branch of the SDA Church, joined his other colleague pastors and congregation to bid farewell to his family.
Linda Kessie, a 31-year-old French teacher at Valley View University Basic School in Accra, who was the wife of Pastor Ebenezer Ato Kessie, Madam Grace Ampah, 65-year-old mother of Linda Kessie, Jaden Kessie, four-year-old son of the couple, Jason Kessie, their three-week-old baby and Precious Pokua, 9-year-old niece of Linda Kessie, died in a ferocious fire on Sunday, August 19, 2018 which engulfed their six-bedroom storey apartment at Akokofoto, Dansoman.
Their pictures were posted on their coffins with their names boldly inscribed on them, as family members, pastors and church members took turns to eulogise the departed ones.
The church members and sympathisers wept uncontrollably when it was announced at the funeral grounds that Mrs Kessie clasped her two children in her motherly bosom in the fire in an attempt to save them.
In tears, Pastor Ato Kessie said, “Death and indeed a death so sudden and painful like the death of my wife and nuclear family on that fateful Sunday, August 19, 2018 in a horrific fire outbreak has made me realized the brevity of life.”
Pastor Ato Kessie, in a tribute to the wife exclaimed, “I understand you screamed painfully together with Jaden, Jason, your mum and your niece but your voices were so faint that no one could hear you as the fire intensified, but I know I should have been at home to rescue you but could not…”
He said that it was difficult to accept the death of his wife and children, especially when he did not have the chance to say good bye to them.
In a sermon, Professor Jacob Jake Nortey, former president of the Western, Central African Division of the SDA Church, stressed that Pastor Ato Kessie was away trying to help other families when the tragic incident hit his family.
He said “the death of the five persons makes us understand that death can come to us in various ways.”
“God knows, understands and does what is best for us; in all things, we should give thanks to God,” he stated.
The coffin of the youngest of the five, Jason Kessie born on August 4, 2018, was placed on top of her mother’s coffin.
The late Mrs. Kessie was reportedly born on July 22, 1988 at Asante Mampong; Madam Ampah was born in 1953; Baden Kessie, who was born on Saturday, December 27, 2014, would have turned four in December this year.
Pokua was believed to have been named after her grandmother, Madam Grace Ampah.
Present at the funeral were Nii Adjiri Blankson, member of the Council of State and former Mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma East and Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Mayor of Accra, who represented President Akufo–Addo.
Tributes were read by the in-laws, Valley View University Basic School, Dansoman branch of SDA, Shepherdess International, Asante Mampong Central SDA and others for the departed.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey & Melvin Tarlue