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Bless the Lord O my Soul: and all that is within me bless his Holy name. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!

It is a momentous occasion for my family. This day marks exactly nine years since I went into early retirement from World Vision Ghana due to deteriorating health conditions which resulted in stroke. By the grace of God, I have been delivered and restored by the Lord. It is a miracle that on this same date, July 31st, which marks the official retirement of my wife from public service, she was hospitalized.

When I requested for intensive intercessory prayers for Ann who was on life support at the Legon Hospital, I had every hope that she would be restored. Contrary to my expectations, the Lord decided to call her home for a new assignment on Tuesday August 4th.

Since she was due to retire from the services of the University of Ghana as chief administrative officer on July 31st this year, I was planning to go with her to the United States in October to celebrate the 45th anniversary re-union of the Lincoln High School Class of 1970 of which I am a member. My mates were eagerly waiting to meet her.

In a letter informing her of her retirement from the services of the University of Ghana, Legon, Mrs. Ann Abena Ameh was commended by the authorities for her outstanding services to the country’s premier institution of higher education, starting from 1988.

The letter, signed by Mr. K. P. Twumasi, on behalf of the Director of Human Resource and Organizational Development Directorate, noted that Mrs. Ameh’s working life within the University started in 1988 upon her appointment as Clerk Grade One in the Finance Office. By dint of hard work, she rose to the position of Chief Administrative Assistant at the Department of Crop Science, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, where she has served for the past nine years.

“We greatly appreciate your long and devoted service to the life and work of this University these past years. We wish you a peaceful retirement,” the letter to Mrs. Ameh said.

According to Ann, an Alumnus of Tsito Awudome Secondary School (AWUSCO), Takoradi and Accra Polytechnics, and the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), her bosses at the Finance Office included Mr. Agana Banga, Mr. George Lamptey, Mr. Paul Mensah Ansu, and John Etti Minlah. At the Crop Science Department, she has worked with Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah (2006-2008), Prof. Kwadwo Ofori (2008-2010), Prof. John Ofosu Anim (2010-2012), and Dr. (Mrs) Christiana Amoatey (2012-2015) as the successive Heads of Department.

In 2002, Ann was granted a three year study leave with pay to pursue a degree program at the University. She successfully completed the course and in March 2005 received the Bachelor of Science honors degree (B.Sc. Administration) at a congregation which coincided with her 50th birthday. Apart from my wife and I graduating from Legon, our last born son, Lawrence, who is an alumnus of PRESEC (Legon) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), also earned his Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering (MPhil.Nuc.Eng.) from Legon in March 2013.

The University of Ghana was founded as the University College of the Gold Coast by Ordinance on August 11, 1948, for the purpose of providing and promoting University Education, learning and research. Over the last Sixty-Seven years, the University of Ghana, Legon, has evolved into one of Africa’s leading universities, recognized worldwide for the academic and research excellence of its faculty, student body, and for the professional success of its alumni. UG’s alumni are leaders in Agriculture, Business, Healthcare, Industry, Service, Politics, Education and other sectors all over the globe.

In addition to her secular work at the University of Ghana, the prayerful Mrs. Ameh has also demonstrated her Christian maturity and leadership abilities whiles serving as the secretary at Africa Christian Mission (ACM), as District Secretary for the Assemblies of God Women’s Fellowship (Dansoman –Mataheko), from 1994 to 1998, and as Deaconess in charge of the Evangelism and Sunday School Departments of the Vineyard Chapel International, Grace Temple, Adenta, from 2012 to 2014.

“Mrs. Ameh is a fantastic secretary and efficient Administrator who did a wonderful job for the Assemblies of God Church”, said Mrs. Rebecca Abadzivor (aka Auntie Becky), former President of the Mataheko-Dansoman District Assemblies of God Women’s Fellowship and also an administrative staff of the University of Ghana. The Federation of University Senior Staff Association of Ghana(FUSSAG), of which she was an active member, also commended Mrs. Ameh for her enormous contributions.

According to Rev. Mrs Hawa Evelyn Kanco, director of Evangelism and Missions of Vineyard Chapel International, Mrs Ameh is not only a prayerful, diligent, humble, and industrious mother, but also a very pleasant and focused personality to work with.

“Ann is a perfect example of the virtuous woman described in the Bible,” Mrs Kanco observed,

Our children and I are greatly honored and delighted to join our precious and cherished sweet mother and partner in thanking the Lord for His amazing grace in sustaining her with the Holy Spirit’s anointing throughout the vicissitudes of life as a humble steward of God at the University of Ghana and in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also deeply appreciate the partnership, friendship, cooperation and love she enjoyed from the Management of the University, her numerous bosses and working colleagues in various departments and Churches over the period of this long, challenging, exciting and fruitful journey.

This weekend, she will be laid to rest at her hometown Amedzofe in the Volta Region. We will continue to count on your intercession in the years ahead. God richly bless all!

- KAFUI AMEH

Accra, 9th September, 2015.

PS: The writer, who is Ann’s husband, is an alumnus of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), the University of Ghana, Legon, Lincoln High School, San Diego, California (AFS-Ghana 1970 Year Group), and Doctoral Student at Walden University (DBA), USA. The above piece is an excerpt from Kafui Ameh’s forthcoming explosive and inspirational book, ‘Refusing To Die – Global Echoes of Transformation and Social Change.’