Ghanaian Online Community Remembers BBC Presenter Komla Dumor

Photo by BloggingGhana member Nana Kofi Acquah on Komla Dumor’s 41st birthday. Used with permission.

Photo by BloggingGhana member Nana Kofi Acquah on Komla Dumor’s 41st birthday. Used with permission.

On 18 January, 2014, the world was hit with the shocking news of the sudden death of Ghanaian BBC presenter Komla Dumor, who was known in the Ghanaian community as the “Boss Player”. Komla was the presenter for the BBC World News and Focus on Africa.

Upon hearing the news of his death, Ghanain President John Mahama tweeted:

Blogging Ghana, an organization of bloggers and social media enthusiasts, organised a Google+ hangout discussion on 24 January, 2014 in remembrance of Komla. The hangout was spearheaded by Jemila Abdulai and Gameli Adzaho, members of Blogging Ghana.

They wrote in a blog post on the group's website:

Members of Ghana’s online community would justifiably want to quickly forget last Saturday 18th January 2014 for the sad tidings the day brought. From noon or so, rumours started filtering into various online platforms that “something bad” might have happened to leading BBC world service presenter Komla Dumor.

Like the pitiful notes and sombre drumbeats of bad music emanating from a player outside our control, the dreadful news continued to self-propagate, finally filling our hearts and minds with misery. And as the pitch increased, the clouds darkened, and our worst fears descended like torrential rainfall. Komla Afeke Dumor, the “boss player”, is gone from the earth and has taken his vim to another sphere.

Ghanaians mourned together on Twitter with the hashtag #RIPKomlaDumor.

Maame Aba recalled how she heard about Komla's death:

GanyobiNaa, an occupational hygienist and a photographer who was a participant of the Google+ hangout discussion, stated:

Macjordan reflected on Komla's interview skills:

Bernard Kelvin, a bestselling author in Ghana, emphasised the uniqueness of Komla's journalism work:

Blogging Ghana tweeted a question:

Maame Aba responded:

Blogging Ghana asked the online community to share their personal interaction they had with Komla:  

Papa Nkpa responded:

Gameli noted:

Jeanne expressed her sadness:

Kwame Anim commented on the moments he had with Komla:

Jemila commented on Komla's effort to help Africa tell its story:

GanyobiNaa pointed out that:

Jeanne tweeted:

Non-Ghanaian fans and friends of Komla also took to Twitter to express their sadness and views about Komla:

Ameyaw Debrah tweeted:

Julie Gichuru from Kenya also tweeted:  

Robert Alai expressed his sadness:

Trevor Ncube noted:

Nana Asaase prayed:

US Embassy Ghana expressed their condolence:

Errol Barnet tweeted:

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