Robert Dodu

MY FAREWELL MESSAGE TO MR. KOFI ADJEI

FROM ROBERT DODU

"Now the Labourer's task is over,

Now the Battle day is past;

Now upon the farther shore

Lands the voyager at Last.

Refrain:

Father, in thy gracious keeping,

Leave we now thy servant sleeping,

A-men."

MHB#97

John Ellerton (1870)

MEMORIES

Now Kofi Adjei is at rest and sleeping peacefully after many years of struggling to survive. His soul is at peace.

When I look down memory lane, I find it a privilege and more lucky to have worked with Mr. Kofi Adjei in my early working life, as early as 1st February 1990-1996, as my Director of Audits and Investigation at Egala, Ocansey and Associates (EOA) and later partners at E.V. Asare & Co. (Chartered Accountancy Firms) respectively.

Over the years, I found him as someone who was a good father figure, accessible, fun, loving, very funny, interesting to be with, an encourager, very scholarly, and a great cheerleader. He commands so many interesting "Guy names" i.e. aliases such as Joe Boloobo, Guy Lampado, Ankasa Ankasa, just to mention a few.

I remember him always smartly dressed to the office. He was a very strict "Boss" and as such most of my colleagues at EOA will be in a hurry to get things done right before he arrives at the Audit Hall. It helped a lot in our professional development.

He was an astute Auditor and investigator with several Ghana Government's Local and International Audits up his sleeves. Kofi loved to debate and argue on professional issues, therefore it was impossible to work with him without encountering his debative or argumentative attitude. It always brought the best out of every situation that he was involved in.

After working with him at EOA for some time he decided to set up his own practice with his friend Mr. E.V.Asare.

My surprise was that he spotted me among my colleagues as the one who could be his partner at E.V.Asare & Co. He wasn't my friend then, but only my boss. He called at my house, which was quite far from where he lived, as early as 5:30 am, at which time I was asleep. He asked for my place and came and sat in front of my door quietly until I woke up around 6:30am.

Indeed, I was overwhelmed that such a great man could wake up that early and come to my house for such a conversation. Therefore, I could not say no to him, but I asked him to give me some time to wind up. He agreed and I also proposed to my best friend to join us so that we could make a nice team.

I never regretted agreeing to work with him. He treated me very well throughout the years that we were together until I was seconded to work with his "bosom friend" Mr. E. Boadi Koranteng.

There was an incident that made me respect and love him more. That was when he traveled abroad and I was in charge in his absence. One of his niece's, in the usual Ghanaian way, was not working according to the rules of the office.

As it were, I applied the rules of the office and I suspended her. Being a proper Kwahu man I thought on his return he would be unhappy with my action, so I was ready to resign and move away. On his return, he was briefed before he came to the office. He called a meeting and listened to what his niece did in his absence carefully. He found her guilty and so he took a harsher decision against her so that no other blood relation will do anything to ruin the company's fortunes in the future. He re-settled her into something else and she also understood her position.

This action taken by Kofi stabilized the company for many years. Some of his children also came to work in the company later on. Indeed, they were all very disciplined and they all became my good friends till today. His said niece was nice to me until I left the company. Thank you Mr. Kofi Adjei for showing impeccable leadership which is very rare in Ghana.

It is a joy working with someone you know has a lot of trust in you to the extent that no one can blackmail you when he is concerned. Anyone who told him anything about me, he quickly cross-checked. Usually, people fabricate stories in our society here in Ghana to have their way, but you can't do that with Kofi. I salute you for this, my boss.

My joy is that in his years in the United States of America, he became closer to his maker and he did more work for the church and his faith was stronger than it was in his youthful days. I can go on with more things that I know about him but I will end it here.

I will forever miss talking to you on the telephone and all the advice you gave to me over the years. May God grant you mercy and give you peace.

Rest in the Arms of the Father