Sammy's final journey, Monday, July 4, 2011, spread
Mourners from all walks of life on Saturday turned up at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra to bid farewell to Sammy Okaitey, the News Editor of the Daily Graphic who died in April 2011.
Among the personalities who attended the ceremony are the Nii Armah Ashietey; Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Nortey Duah; Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Alex Segbefia; a Deputy Chief of Staff, Professor Kwesi Yankah; the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Mr O.B. Amoah, MP for Aburi-Nsawam; and Alhaji M.N.D Jawula, former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and Mr Fred Pappoe, Vice-President of the GFA.
Others are Ghana’s former Ambassador to Serbia, Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe;former WBC champion, Barima Azumah Nelson; Coaches Sam Arday and Francis Oti Akenten and a host of media practitioners, including Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), and a former Managing Director (MD) of the GCGL, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, was represented by DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, the Accra Regional Police Commander.
Staff of the Graphic Communication Group Limited led by the acting MD, Mr Kwesi Adjei Kersi, and members of the Ghana Journalists Association led by Mr Ransford Tetteh, who is also the Editor of the Daily Graphic, were present to celebrate the life of their departed colleague.
Not to be left out of the event of the day, members of Liberty Oldies, mostly made up of retired footballers and playmates of the late Sam Okaitey, led by a Presidential Aide, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, filed past his body while singing dirges.
They had earlier played a soccer match in honour of their departed colleague.
Also at the funeral was Nii Akapeh, the Asafoatse of the Osu Mankralo Stool and a friend of the deceased, who in the company of his drummers, all dressed in T-shirts bearing the picture of the deceased with the inscription ‘Disappointed’, also fired musketry amidst drumming and appellations in memory of the late News Editor.
A relative of the late Okaitey, Mr Joseph Okaitey, read the biography of the deceased, while tributes were read by representatives from the Ghana Journalists Association and the Ghana Football Association and Old students of Achimota School where the deceased had his secondary education.
Other tributes were read by the widow, Madam Fati Bintu Lagunda; Dr Nyaho Tamakloe while Edith Okaitey, one of his two daughters, delivered a soul-touching tribute on behalf of the children.
In a sermon, based on Luke 16, the Resident Pastor of the Royal 2 House Chapel, Pastor Derrick Amanor, said death was not the end of life but the beginning of eternal existence.
He stated that it was, therefore, important that Christians prepared themselves as death could prey on humans whether they were prepared or not.
He noted that after death, the destination of humans was determined based on how they lived on earth . Righteousness, Pastor Amanor stated, was not enough to secure heaven for Christians but meeting the needs of the underprivileged was an important qualification.
Mr Okaitey’s coffin, draped in Achimota School colours, was buried at the Osu Cemetery.
Sammy Okaitey was born at Osu in Accra on March 27, 1959.
He attended Achimota School for his General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level examination and Winneba Secondary School and the Workers College for his GCE Advanced Level.
He went to the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), where he graduated with a Diploma in Journalism in 1983.
After GIJ, he worked with the Ghanaian Voice and later the Nigerian Concord, before freelancing for the Graphic Sports, the Daily Graphic and The Mirror.
He was employed by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) as a Staff Reporter attached to the Graphic Sports on February 2, 1986.
At the Sports Department, he rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Sports Editor of the Graphic Sports.
Sammy covered many international and local sports assignments for the paper.
He also acted as Editor of the Graphic Sports when the substantive Editor travelled outside to cover a sports event.
He was appointed on three occasions as acting Editor of the Graphic Showbiz and on November 1, 2007, he was made the News Editor of the Daily Graphic.
Prior to that appointment, he had been appointed the Re-write Editor of the Daily Graphic to breathe life into all major news stories in the newspaper.
He has been honoured with various awards, including the unique title as three-time winner of the Best Sports Writer Award by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
The most current in the chain of awards were in 2007 and 2008 when he was rewarded for Outstanding Contribution to Graphic and Mentoring Young Reporters, both by the GJA.
He is survived by a wife and three children.
Among the personalities who attended the ceremony are the Nii Armah Ashietey; Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Nortey Duah; Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Alex Segbefia; a Deputy Chief of Staff, Professor Kwesi Yankah; the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Mr O.B. Amoah, MP for Aburi-Nsawam; and Alhaji M.N.D Jawula, former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and Mr Fred Pappoe, Vice-President of the GFA.
Others are Ghana’s former Ambassador to Serbia, Dr Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe;former WBC champion, Barima Azumah Nelson; Coaches Sam Arday and Francis Oti Akenten and a host of media practitioners, including Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), and a former Managing Director (MD) of the GCGL, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, was represented by DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, the Accra Regional Police Commander.
Staff of the Graphic Communication Group Limited led by the acting MD, Mr Kwesi Adjei Kersi, and members of the Ghana Journalists Association led by Mr Ransford Tetteh, who is also the Editor of the Daily Graphic, were present to celebrate the life of their departed colleague.
Not to be left out of the event of the day, members of Liberty Oldies, mostly made up of retired footballers and playmates of the late Sam Okaitey, led by a Presidential Aide, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, filed past his body while singing dirges.
They had earlier played a soccer match in honour of their departed colleague.
Also at the funeral was Nii Akapeh, the Asafoatse of the Osu Mankralo Stool and a friend of the deceased, who in the company of his drummers, all dressed in T-shirts bearing the picture of the deceased with the inscription ‘Disappointed’, also fired musketry amidst drumming and appellations in memory of the late News Editor.
A relative of the late Okaitey, Mr Joseph Okaitey, read the biography of the deceased, while tributes were read by representatives from the Ghana Journalists Association and the Ghana Football Association and Old students of Achimota School where the deceased had his secondary education.
Other tributes were read by the widow, Madam Fati Bintu Lagunda; Dr Nyaho Tamakloe while Edith Okaitey, one of his two daughters, delivered a soul-touching tribute on behalf of the children.
In a sermon, based on Luke 16, the Resident Pastor of the Royal 2 House Chapel, Pastor Derrick Amanor, said death was not the end of life but the beginning of eternal existence.
He stated that it was, therefore, important that Christians prepared themselves as death could prey on humans whether they were prepared or not.
He noted that after death, the destination of humans was determined based on how they lived on earth . Righteousness, Pastor Amanor stated, was not enough to secure heaven for Christians but meeting the needs of the underprivileged was an important qualification.
Mr Okaitey’s coffin, draped in Achimota School colours, was buried at the Osu Cemetery.
Sammy Okaitey was born at Osu in Accra on March 27, 1959.
He attended Achimota School for his General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level examination and Winneba Secondary School and the Workers College for his GCE Advanced Level.
He went to the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), where he graduated with a Diploma in Journalism in 1983.
After GIJ, he worked with the Ghanaian Voice and later the Nigerian Concord, before freelancing for the Graphic Sports, the Daily Graphic and The Mirror.
He was employed by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) as a Staff Reporter attached to the Graphic Sports on February 2, 1986.
At the Sports Department, he rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Sports Editor of the Graphic Sports.
Sammy covered many international and local sports assignments for the paper.
He also acted as Editor of the Graphic Sports when the substantive Editor travelled outside to cover a sports event.
He was appointed on three occasions as acting Editor of the Graphic Showbiz and on November 1, 2007, he was made the News Editor of the Daily Graphic.
Prior to that appointment, he had been appointed the Re-write Editor of the Daily Graphic to breathe life into all major news stories in the newspaper.
He has been honoured with various awards, including the unique title as three-time winner of the Best Sports Writer Award by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
The most current in the chain of awards were in 2007 and 2008 when he was rewarded for Outstanding Contribution to Graphic and Mentoring Young Reporters, both by the GJA.
He is survived by a wife and three children.
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