Margaret Safo laid to rest

Tears flowed freely at the Osu Cemetery in Accra when the mortal remains of the immediate past Editor of The Mirror, Mrs Margaret Safo, who was also known in writing circles as ‘Peggy Oppong’, was laid to rest on Saturday, June 28.

Family members, well-wishers and church members watched solemnly as her remains, carried in a white coffin, was lowered into the grave after prayers had been said by the leadership of the United Calvary Church (UCC), where the late Mrs Safo worshipped.

Earlier in the day, mourners from all walks of life had thronged the Trinity Theological College at East Legon in Accra to bid the iconic author farewell. 

Among the personalities who attended the funeral were the President of the Ghana Writers Association and former Editor of The Mirror, Mr Kwesi Gyan-Apenteng; former Editor of Graphic Sports, Mr Joe Aggrey; a former Chief Sub-Editor, Mr K.K. Dako.

Others were the Secretary General of the Pan African Writers Association, Prof. Atukwei Okai; the Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu; General Manager, Ghana News Agency, Mr Bernard Otabil and the Executive Director, Abantu for Development, Ms Rose Mensah-Kutin. 

Staff of the Graphic Communications Group  Limited (GCGL), led by the Director of Human Resource and Administration, Ms Peggy Addo, came to pay their final respects to their departed colleague. 

They included editors of the various newspapers, namely Mr Ransford Tetteh, Daily Graphic; Mrs Janet Quainoo, The Mirror; Nanabanyin Dadson, Graphic Showbiz, and Mrs Mavis Kitcher of the Junior Graphic, 

Others were the Human Resource Manager (Operations), Mrs Kathryn Parry; the Head of Strategy, Mr John Tagoe, the Chief Internal Auditor, Mr Erasmus Akuffo-Badoo, and the Public Affairs Manager, Mr Albert Sam.

At a memorial service characterised by deeply touching tributes, Rev. Prof. James Aquandah of the United Calvary Church described the late Mrs Safo as somebody who professed and lived her strong beliefs in Jesus Christ.

He said she was an example of a true Christian whose loyalty to Christ was never in doubt. Tributes were read by her children, brothers and sisters. 

It was her husband, Mr Kojo Safo’s tribute that was most moving. “You have left me to continue the journey alone. I feel so empty without you. The future looks so bleak but I know God will never leave me or forsake me,” he struggled to read out.

Members of the Women’s Fellowship of the UCC dressed in black and white, honoured the late Mrs Safo by solemnly escorting the body away from the church. 

They described her as a true deaconess of the UCC.

Biography

Mrs Margaret Safo was born on January 26, 1957 at Adabraka in Accra.

She attended the Okuapeman Secondary School, where she studied and obtained her General Certificate of Education (GCE); Ordinary and Advanced levels.

She was one of the only two women to successfully gain admission from her school to the university after the GCE-Advanced level examinations.

She entered the University of Ghana in 1979, where she met and later married her husband, Mr Kojo Safo. 

She was also in the Pushkin University, Moscow, in the then Soviet Union, now Russia.

She also completed a Graduate Diploma programme in Communication Studies in the University of Ghana.

After that, she joined her husband in Nigeria in 1982, and taught English Language at the Methodist Comprehensive High School at Ifaki in the Ekiti State. The family returned to Ghana in 1985.

Mrs Safo joined the then Graphic Corporation for National Service and was employed as a staff writer on January 2, 1987. She was later appointed the Deputy Editor of The Mirror on May 14, 1998 and eventually became the Editor on January 3, 2003. 

Mrs Safo retired from the Graphic Communications Group Limited in 2011.

She was an accomplished author who wrote 23 books.

She left behind her husband, a retired Deputy Managing Director of Ghana Post, and four children.