On Thursday, April 11, 2024, Mawuena Adzo Trebarh, a prominent Ghanaian businesswoman and sister of the late BBC broadcaster Komla Dumor, passed away.
Her recent death has drawn attention to a series of social media posts she made on January 18 and 19, 2024, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her late brother’s passing.
In these posts, which coincidentally were her last before her demise, Mawuena shared fond memories of her late brother and the pain of dealing with his loss.
On January 18, marking a decade since Komla’s passing, Mawuena recounted her early morning routine of driving her brother, who was employed with the Multimedia Group as host of the Joy FM morning show, to work. She described how her duties as an elder sister meant she had to drop him off and arrive at work very early, around 3 am, before her official reporting time.
In her final post on January 19, Mawuena expressed gratitude to the public for the outpouring of love on the 10th anniversary of Komla’s passing.
Read Mawuena’s full post on January 18, 2024, below:
One of my fondest memories of my brother Komla will always be our early morning drives from our family home in Kwabenya, Accra, Ghana to the studios of Joy 99.7FM. Those were the very early days of his career as a broadcast journalist.
Older sister duties dictated that when his car had to go for servicing and the rains were especially heavy, it would be my duty (with no democracy) to get him to the studio. We would set off at 2:00am for a 3am arrival in Kokomlemle, Accra.
“Komla why do we have to leave that early? I would ask? I can still hear his reply. “So I can sleep some more on the way!!
I remember fondly the comfortable but anxious silence, as I tried to escape getting stuck in the mud on the initial rough road to the main road. I remember our huge sighs of relief and laughter as we escaped the mud bath, arriving safely at the main road. I especially remember him jumping out of the car with purpose on arrival at JoyFM and the last word as he leaned forward, “Thanks Mawun. See you later!
I remember my feelings of satisfaction that I had done my “big sister good deed” for the day and then instantly annoyed wondering what on earth I was going to do at my office at 3am until official work hours started! Sleep some more I guess?
There are multiple fond memories I have of Komla especially on this 10th anniversary of his departure. Sometimes the anguish of how much I miss him can be a lot to bear but I remain encouraged by those memories.
I am thankful to GOD that today, I can be here to celebrate those memories with my family and the extraordinary numbers of people who knew him and loved him too. Rest Strong and Rest Free Komla. We don’t stop! Mawun