Komla Dumor; A man I never met but I admired greatly

As much as I was shocked and saddened by the news of KD's death, I have learned to accept death as a necessary end that is difficult for us to comprehend when it happens. Especially, when we deem it as untimely as in the case of KD's. I never met KD, I only got to know of him on BBC TV, from his days as the presenter of African Business Report and followed him thru Focus on Africa.

From what I saw of him, he was a charismatic, excellent and a fine journalist. When I read of his death, the first phrase that came to mind was from Billy Joel's song - "Only the good die young" as it is frequently the case. As much as we grieve his passing, let us celebrate his many accomplishments and the legacy he left behind in such a short life.

My deepest condolence and sympathy to his family, his BBC colleagues and Ghana.

May he Rest In Perfect Peace.

In times as these, I am always reminded of excerpts from the late Steve Jobs 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart".

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true".