Glefe school children pay last respect to drowned colleagues

Hundreds of school children and parents from Glefe, a community in the Ga South Municipal Assembly congregated at the Star of the Sea Catholic church in Dansoman to pay their last respect to two of their colleagues who got drowned at the Glefe beach on June 15, 2014.

The children wailed uncontrollably in a manner that compelled their teachers and parents to console them throughout the  service.

The church held a liturgy service in honor of the deceased pupils, followed by the burial at their respective hometowns all in the Volta Region.

The deceased are Edmund Kobie Doade, 13-year-old Junior High School pupil of the Star of the Sea Basic School, Edem Tuglo, 15, of the Dansoman Basic School and a 16-year-old girl, Abiba.

The funeral rites were witnessed by Hon. Alfred Agbesi, Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr. B.B Gboyor, Assembly man of the area, Head Teachers and some Directors of Education.              

The boys had gone to the beach to play football on that fateful Sunday when they were trapped by the heavy tidal waves. Reports suggested they were chasing a ball and suddenly lost control in the water and therefore drowned in the process.

Abiba, on the other hand, had gone to the beach to swim when she met her untimely death. She had paid a short visit to a relative in the community when the unfortunate incident happened

                                               Hon. Alfred Agbesi, (left)

According to Mariama Faisal, a close relative to Abiba, she (Abiba) asked her (Mariama) to take her to the beach which she refused.

Mariama gave in to the persistent pressure and went to the beach with her where she met her untimely death.

Abiba has since been buried in accordance with Muslim tradition, myjoyonline.com gathered.

Edmund Doade, who was a member of the school Cadet, had his colleagues display some skills in his honour while Edem Tuglo was a member of the school's team.

During the church service for the deceased, Rev. Father Gabriel Ettiene, an assistant priest at the Star of the Sea Catholic Church advised the gathering to keep their faith in the Lord for He knew best.

Alfred Agbesi (MP), who spoke on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament said though the parents had done their best to sustain the children and  wished to see them live on, “it did not happen that way and so they should not think the tragic death was the end of life”, and urged them to overcome the pain. Story by David Andoh-Ghana-myjoyonline.com