The late Mr Alex Amoako
Kumasi-based Ashh 101.1 fm, a subsidiary of Kencity Media Limited, will be joined by members of the public, family and friends to bid farewell to the late News Editor and Marketing Manager of the station, Mr Alex Amoako tomorrow, Saturday, July 22, 2017.
This is the second time a News Editor of the station has died for the past 17 years Ashh operated as radio station and Mr Amoako follows his predecessor, Mr Samuel Ennin, who happens to be the first News Editor of the station, to ancestory. Ennin was shot dead in Kumasi in 2007.
Final funeral rite of Mr Amoako, who was popularly known in media circles as "The Hitman", is scheduled to take place at the Heroes Park, Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Saturday.
Burial ceremony is expected to follow suit that same Saturday, this time, at his home town, Kensere near Bekwai in the Ashanti Region.
General Manager of Ashh fm, Mr Armstrong Esaah says the station would need the support of all to lay the number one of its hardworking staff to rest tomorrow.
He said between the station and the family, all arrangements had been made to successfully see the funeral and burial ceremonies of their beloved one.
It could be recalled that on Friday, March 26, 2017, Mr Amoako died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) after battling illness for some months.
He was aged 48, left behind a wife and three children and his demise would need to attract friends and members of the general public to sympathise with the bereaved family.
He was a Sports Journalist and a member of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) who after completing the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), premier public journalism training school, had not compromised professionalism on the job.
Before joining Ashh fm in 2000, he had since 1996 been a reporter of the New Statesman, one of the leading private newspapers in the country and had also been a reporter to The Pioneer, the oldest independent newspaper.
FOR THE RECORD The first to have died as News Editor of the station was Samuel Kwabena Ennin who was shot dead by unknown gunmen at the Libra Spot at Pankrono Estate on Friday night of February 9, 2007.
The late Amoako, succeeded Ennin in the acting capacity and was later made the Substantive News Editor and had since been occupying that position till his demise.
His predecessor, Ennin, who was murdered in cold blood was the host of "Point of Order", a political programme of the station that was aired on Saturday mornings and also a member of the Morning Show of the station dubbed: "Ashh Ade Akyeabia".
He was also the then Ashanti Regional Chairman of the GJA and the Police had since been investigating the matter, earlier suspecting the murder was politically motivated.
Media reports had indicated that drama heralded prosecution of two suspects - Sheiriff Kabore and Kwame Ayew - who were in police custody for investigations all because advice on a docket sent to the Attorney General's Department had it that police could not go on with the prosecution because of fresh evidence allegedly linking a journalist to the murder.
The wife of the late Ennin had alleged during investigations that she had seen the said journalist (whose name was not disclosed) with the two suspects two days before her husband was killed.
It could be recalled that while relaxing with some staff and friends at the Libra spot, at Pankrono Estate in Kumasi that Friday night at around 8.00 some unknown gunmen came out of an unregistered white saloon car, entered the spot and without any provocation shot the deceased in the abdomen after firing indiscriminately to frighten customers.
Mr Ennin was taken to KATH for treatment where died shortly after breeding profusely.
Colleague Journalists in Kumasi and the GJA, received the news with shock and dismay and wondered what might have accounted for that.
The news was also a big blow to residents of Kumasi who described the death as shocking, mischievous and barbaric.
The GJA issued a statement signed by the then Regional Vice Chairman of the GJA, Nana Yaw Osei, saying that the late Ennin was widely known to be interested in becoming either a Member of Parliament for Odotobri Constituency or a District Chief Executive for Amansie Central, area where he comes from.
The statement however, charged the Police that if the murder was politically motivated, then apart from looking at the perceived political opponents of the late Ennin, his home district and constituency must also engage the attention of the police for investigations.
