Stephen Yamoah Is Dead

I remember our first meeting at Tafo-Pankronu LA Middle School vividly. The year had started and we were in the middle of the first lesson for the day when the head teacher walked into our classroom. Behind him was a dark boy with a big head and big eyes. He told the teacher she had a new pupil and left. As the new boy stepped forward, it became obvious that there was no desk and chair for him. I got up and offered to help him find a desk and chair. From that moment on, we were inseparable. Since he was some weeks behind, I gave him my notes to help him catch up. Unlike many then and since, he never complained about my handwriting. A few days later, I met the rest of his family-- including his dad and younger brother, Ebenezer. We ate together, played together and hung out together-- with the third member of our trio, Kwamina Dadzie.

Even though we ended up in different Secondary schools, we stayed close. At Kumasi High School, he made history and became a man.

We played soccer, learned, dreamed about the future and chased girls together. We would walk all the way from Old Tafo to Ash Town to chase girls. Once, when a lady we were visiting offered to hail a taxi to take us home, Akwasi stepped in smoothly, "Oh, we need to see one of my mates a few blocks down the street". A taxi would have been very inconvenient because we did not have a pesewa between us that night! Once we were clear, we started the long walk back home.

He ended up at KNUST and I at Legon but we stayed in touch and entered students politics together. When I decided to contest the NUGS Presidency, he helped organize a group of art students who designed some very attractive posters for my campaign. He was elected Secretary to the KNUST SRC for the 1983/1984 year.

He was at the heart of the student demonstrations in 1983 and regarded by many as one of the keys behind the student army that repelled the miners invasion from Obuasi.He was, together with Hans Djaba, Dan Botwe, Kwaku Darkwa, and Richard Anane and others, pillars of the student movement.

He was an excellent student and the life of every party. He was rarely down about anything.And he cared about people, passionately. When we were in exile in the Ivory Coast, he wrote often and came to visit.

Once, in 1984, we were travelling from Accra to Cape Coast, for a NUGS meeting when we came upon an accident, just after Winneba. There were a lot of injuries. Then, as now, there were no emergency medical services. We did our best to get the injured from mangled vehicles. My lasting image of that evening is that of Kwasi, carrying a bleeding woman he had pulled out of a vehicle to safety as the sparse crowd broke into applause. He looked so strong.When we were done, we resumed the journey with Kwasi still wearing his bloodstained shirt. He looked so strong, so powerful.

Finally, even though he loved to play, he had a serious, religious side. When we were being chased by the PNDC, he decided we needed a little Devine protection. So, in addition to the prayers of Reverend Senavoe, his aunt arranged for us, one dawn to visit the prayer camp of a Priestess who was simply called "Mama". After the service, we joined the queue for individual blessings. The Priestess assured us that God would protect us. As she put it, "You will not die by violence. As long as you walk in his light, God will protect you". When we walked out, we hugged each other tightly for a long time. We walked with a new spring in our step. We were two young men caught in the current of our country's history, touching the face of God, as best as we knew how.

He was all about family, with his siblings, his wife and his children.

Sophocles once said that we must wait till the evening to know how good the day has been. With Stephen Kwasi Gyabaah Yamoah, the day was good early and consistently. Despite losing the gift of speech in the last few years, his voice, his laughter and his Joy for life were over abundant.

My friend, rest in peace till we meet again.