The Life Story Of Ametsitsia Tobias Lokoe

"The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him." –Proverbs 20:7.

"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." —Marcus Aurelius

1.0. Birth, Early Life, and Education

Young Tobias was born on 21 April 1944 in Fodome Helu. He was the youngest of eight children (all of blessed memory) of Zikpuitor Kumakofi Lokoe-Atiegah from Toti Royal Clan of Fodome Helu and Madam Boesi Egbetsiwo from the Anyigbe Clan of Fodome Amele.

Being the youngest child, Tobias grew up under firm guidance and discipline. From an early age, the good training he acquired has lived with him all through his life as he always acted towards everyone, respectfully and humbly, whether an elderly person, a colleague, a young person, or a stranger.

Tobias was enrolled into the Roman Catholic Primary School in Fodome Helu in 1950 when he turned six. Owing to financial difficulties, his parents were unable to support his education beyond Middle School Form Four, which he completed in 1961.

Yet, Tobias refused to let the sudden end of his educational journey determine the course of his life. After realizing he had no chance to pursue a college or university education, he made the difficult decision to travel away from his parents in search of better opportunities and a brighter future.

2.0. Career and Work

Tobias' journey first took him to Takoradi, where he stayed with his elder brother, the late Victor Lokoe, who worked with the Ghana Railways Company Limited. However, life in the city soon brought him an unexpected setback. His brother suddenly lost his job just as Tobias was beginning to settle.

Victor's sudden layoff changed the course of events, forcing Tobias to relocate to Samreboi, where he stayed with their first elder brother, the late Thomas Atiegah, after a few months' stay in Takoradi.

At Samreboi, Tobias took on several odd jobs before eventually securing work as a clerk with a timber company. However, situations convinced him that Samreboi could not contain the future he hoped to build. So, he left that place and travelled to Accra, the city that would later define much of his working life.

2.1. His Days with the Ministry of Finance

Tobias arrived in Accra in 1964 and began to search for a job. During those difficult periods, he was offered a position as a messenger in the Ministry of Finance (MoF). With his daily duties at the ministry, Tobias dispatched sensitive and important financial documents between departments, agencies, and clients. He carried out his responsibilities with honesty, great care, discipline, and pride to the admiration of colleagues and superiors.

At one point, Tobias recounted how his superiors tested him during his probationary period without his knowledge. As part of his routine errands to banks, cashiers acting on instructions would intentionally overpay him after transactions. And each time he counted the money and noticed the excess amount, he returned it immediately. The same thing happened repeatedly at different banks and on different occasions.

Those small acts of honesty revealed the kind of person Tobias was. And so, words of his good character quickly spread throughout his workplace. People began to notice that the young messenger could be trusted with responsibility. In no time, that trust earned him promotion to the position of Chief Messenger.

2.2. Secondment to the Presidency

In 1965, Tobias was seconded to the Presidency as Chief Messenger from the MoF, where his duties increased significantly as he handled sensitive and classified documents between the Castle and the Ministry.

The role came with official privileges, which included accommodation, a driver, and an official vehicle registered as GF 4728. Yet, he handled them with great modesty and did not allow them to change his character. He acted in this role until the 1966 military coup, which removed Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the government of the Convention People's Party from office.

In that turbulent and uncertain transitional period, while many staff members attached to the Presidency lost their positions, Tobias, however, earned the confidence of Lt. Gen. A. A. Afrifa and remained among the few staff retained by him after General Joseph Ankrah's resignation in April 1969.

In this elevated role, Tobias found himself within the inner operations of power, quietly supporting the coordination of official engagements, state visits, and other diplomatic activities at the castle. But in the same year, when civilian rule was restored under Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, Tobias calmly returned to his duties at the MoF and continued his service without disruption.

3.0. Home Return and Community Service

In the early 1970s, their father died. So, Tobias immediately returned home, as expected of a son. But a visit that was meant to be short turned into a long-term commitment for him, simply because the large family land and the father's house all needed care.

As a result, the elders of Toti prevailed on him to take up the responsibility. That decision was not easy for Tobias, but it was necessitated by the absence of his older brothers. For him, this meant stepping away from his secure career, from opportunity, from city life.

In the end, he obeyed and chose family duty over a flourishing career. Even when the ministry wrote letters calling him back to Accra, he did not go. Later, his best friend, who was the boss of BNI at the time, also invited him for possible employment. But Tobias declined all these courtesies.

During the time he lived in Fodome Helu, adventure was not entirely absent from his mind. Tobias journeyed as far as Sokoto in Nigeria to visit his nephew, before returning once again to Fodome.

For years, Tobias was keeping his father's family lands and serving his community. Around 1974, he became the chairman of a national reconstruction initiative popularly called "RECOR” in Fodome; a program introduced by Gen. Kutu Acheampong's government to promote self-reliance in agriculture. Through him, a number of youths became gainfully employed.

4.0. Tobias the Gardener

Later in life, Tobias returned to Accra with his wife and took up a career as a gardener with a Swedish firm. This was after his late brother Thomas had relocated from Samreboi to Fodome Helu. His skill in horticulture soon became evident. The work later took him to Kumasi, where he served as Chief Gardener at the Kumasi City Hotel. After some time, he became renowned for his craft. This led him to part ways with his employer and established himself independently.

Working as a gardener and landscaper, Tobias planted flowers, grasses, avenue trees, and lawns. His name may not be widely known, but today the roses, croton, thuja, bougainvillea, hibiscuses, royal palms, Christmas trees, beautiful hedges, beautiful grasses, oranges, pears, mangoes, and coconuts he planted still endure across roundabouts, hotels, churches, public grounds, and private homes.

5.0. Clan Commitment and Identity

Since his childhood, young Tobias showed a natural gift in playing the atumpani drum. On many occasions, he represented his school at cultural festivals, where he took part in "drum language" performances as a schoolboy.

In adult life, Tobias preserved the heritage of the Toti royal clan of Fodome, especially through the atumpani. He was widely recognized as the unchallenged "Atsrama" in the Fodome Traditional Area and beyond. His mastery of the drum knew no bounds. He understood its language deeply and could easily manipulate its male and female rhythms with remarkable skill.

During occasions, he accompanied Gbedegbleme and the chiefs and elders of Fodome to durbars and ceremonies in places such as Ho, Kpando, Ve, Agumatsa, Gbi, Alavanyo, Gbefi, and other surrounding areas. He fulfilled this role dutifully, always present whenever his people called on him. Through him, other young men also developed the skill.

Tobias' deep commitment to the progress of the Toti Clan distinguished him even into old age. After returning permanently to his hometown, he regularly advised and contributed his experience to the smooth running of its traditional duties and affairs until age gradually limited his active participation.

6.0. Faith and Church Activities

Tobias’ parents baptized him in the Roman Catholic Church in Fodome Helu when he was just a baby. However, as he grew, he went through unremarkable seasons in his walk with God. But he never completely turned away from God. Something inside kept him searching for a new experience in God.

Miraculously, his complete salvation came in the late 1990s in Kumasi. One day, he secured a job to plant flowers for the Senior Pastor of Great Expectations Ministries International. Through this meeting, the Pastor and his wife prayed with him and later invited him to their church, and through that encounter he got delivered from the power of alcohol.

After that experience, Tobias' love for God grew deeper. He became a committed member of the Great Expectations Ministries International, and was actively involved in the Men’s Fellowship. He also used his gardening skills in service to God decorating the auditorium with indoor and outdoor flowers, helping create an atmosphere of beauty and peace around it without expecting human praise.

In the early 2000s, Tobias joined the New Covenant World Mission. This church became his place of fellowship, where he served with joy and dedication. He was directly involved in securing a permanent land for the church. He contributed to their church building project, and assisted with its electricity connections. Regularly, Tobias supported the Pastors, and assisted many members to attend revival and crusade programs whenever he had the means.

In old age, Tobias did not stop loving God. He still prayed, fasted, attended church when he could, and showed concern for the wellbeing of the church until the weight of old age no longer allowed him. Throughout his embrace of new life in Christ, Tobias did not follow God in an attention-seeking way, and he exhibited this quietly through to the end of his life.

7.0. Ill-health and Transition to Glory

In later years, Tobias’ body began to yield to time. Around 2018, he started experiencing worsening vision after being diagnosed with partial glaucoma. Slowly, the world he had always viewed began to fade.

By 2022, he could no longer see. For a man who had spent his life walking, interacting, and understanding through sight, this was no small battle. But he accepted it. He leaned on his wife, children, and family. Most importantly, he leaned on his faith in God.

Courageously, he lived through his final moments with the same calm resilience that had marked his earlier life, until the 14th of December 2025, when he died peacefully.

8.0. Tobias' Legacy

Today, in homes, churches, hotels, and public spaces, the trees he planted still provide shade to people who never knew his name. Flower gardens he creatively grew still bring beauty and peace to otherwise ordinary places. In Fodome, the atsrama gift he preserved continues through younger men who learned from him.

Beyond that, Tobias leaves behind the example of a sacrificial man who understood responsibility. A man who ignored personal gain to answer family duty. A man who stumbled at certain points in life, yet still found his way back to faith, love for God, and dignity.

But more than anything, he leaves behind an example that reminds us all that we need God to change our stories; we do not need the applause of people to live a meaningful life.

Ametsitsia Tobias Lokoe is survived by two children and eleven grandchildren.

Komla Lokoe
komlalokoe@gmail.com

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