"Eighteen years ago, I met a remarkable young man who was intelligent, knowledgeable, confident, eloquent and charming. His name was Komla Dumor. He became the love of my life and one of the best gifts God gave me.”

Those were the words of Kwansema Dumor, widow of the deceased BBC broadcaster, Komla Dumor, recounting how she met her late husband as she delivered her tribute at the burial service held at the forecourt of the State House in Accra last Saturday.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the death of Komla in London, Kwansema said, “Saturday January 18, 2014 started like a normal Saturday for us; a day the children and I could check the world out and have Komla to ourselves; a day when he was simply ‘Daddy’ and my husband. But now that day marked the beginning of a painful and aching void that we still cannot come to terms with.

“How can Komla be gone? How can he be forever silent? How can he come over walking through the door of our home in the evenings, when the kids and I would trip over ourselves to be the first to hug him?

“And yet that morning, when I woke up my prayer was this: ‘I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding in all my ways, I will acknowledge Him and He will direct my path. Lord I commit my husband and my children into your hands this day.

“It will never be the same without you. I will carry with me forever the many precious lovely memories of our journey together. My only consolation now is that you are with the Lord”, Kwansema sadly noted in the tribute that drew tears from mourners’ eyes.

Tracing their love life to their days at the University of Ghana, Legon, Kwansema said she was blown away by the knowledge and eloquence of the late BBC broadcaster when they first met as students during a group discussion some 18 years ago.

“The first time I interacted with him was at a Sociology group discussion and Komla absolutely blew me away with his knowledge and eloquence. I sat and listened to him in awe. In the end, I felt so intimidated that I decided not to participate in any study he was involved in.

“And yet over time, Komla drew me in and gradually won me over. He wooed me with his baritone, velvet voice; he mesmerized me with his cool gait and air of supreme confidence; he continually made me shake with laughter with his great sense of humour and wit.

“But above all, Komla won me over with his intellect and his dream to pursue an extraordinary life. With his words, he painted for me a vision of the future that sounded so glorious, so exciting and fulfilling that I yielded and eventually vowed to him, ‘till death do us apart’,” she recounted.

Kwansema said Komla was a good and loving husband and companion to her and a wonderful father to their three children, namely, Elinam, Elorm and Araba.

“In his unselfish way he encouraged and supported me to pursue graduate studies at Harvard as he had done. As he was so much in the limelight, I remained less visible in order to preserve some privacy and normalcy for the family.

“Komla was such a great presence in our lives and my heart aches for my loss and for my children, who have lost a fantastic and devoted father,” she added.

Hundreds of people gathered at the funeral grounds could not hold back their tears when Kwansema told the gathering how difficult it was for her to bear the pain that the untimely death of her late lovely husband had brought.

“Thank you for all you did to make the world a better place for us. We love you and miss you terribly”, the mother of three said at the end of her tribute.