Her popular name is Frankie. I got to know her less than two years ago. My first encounter with her was on one of her trips down to Ghana from the USA where it was discovered later on that the two vehicles in which her baggage was packed into a friend’s house were broken into. That friend of hers who happens to be a sister to a close friend of mine reached out to me to help them fix the broken glasses of the vehicle. That was how we met and yea, it was an interesting conversation from there.
Frankie was full of life, jovial and always filled with so much humour and laughter. When I woke up that fateful morning to news of the passing of popular musician Ebony through that fatal accident, it didn’t dawn on me initially that Frankie was always with Ebony. Later I noticed in a video that had gone viral that she was and then the inevitable dawned on me. I quickly tried to call my friend and the sister to either confirm or deny the news to me, with my greatest anticipation being the latter. I was disappointed, Frankie was in the company of Ebony and had also been pronounced dead.
Hmmmmmm!!!! she was such a humble lady, who obviously didn’t have life easy but in it, all faced each day as it came and was always proud how she dealt with each day. She was a dual citizen of Ghana and the United States and the impression I had from her was that she was an orphan, yes, she had no mother and the father never looked after her and the younger brother thus she considered herself an orphan. Her aged grandmother who living in Ghana is the only person she considered her living relation; reasons, I do not know and didn’t ask.
[ads1]Since that fatal accident which claimed two other lives in addition to Ebony, it appeared though Frankie was literally forgotten and not a single word about her. The military officer had the Military move in swiftly to retrieve his body and so did it appear Ebony’s family and management did.
Then came the shocking denial of both relatives and Management of Ebony that they have no relation with Frankie and thus she was just a mere known friend of Ebony and was always with them on every tour. Indeed I won’t be surprised but truth be told, one couldn’t have expected Ebony to draft a contract for an old schoolmate she found worthy of company and assisting her in one way or the other in her carrier. Legally, I agree with the position of her management and relatives but morally, this is insanity, inhuman and most unfortunate.
Frankie’s lifeless body was left in the morgue to its fate and when a relation went to the morgue to retrieve the corpse, he was made aware he had to pay GhC2,000.00 for the corpse to be released and another GhC1,000.00 to complete the process and that GhC1,000.00 is alleged to be going to the medical doctor, for what, I do not know.
Faced with this constraint, friends and sympathizers had to initiate WhatsApp chat groups to raise funds to retrieve Frankie’s dead body from the morgue, it took the benevolence of one popular female musician who chanced upon the development of friends soliciting for funds to halt the process and offer to give whatever amount was required to retrieve the body.
Subsequently, news went viral that Ghana’s Tourism Minister, Catherine Afeku did indicate in a press statement that government was considering a State burial for the late actress [who according to ghanaweb was driving in a vehicle given her by Rev. Owusu Bempah for protection]. If this news is of substance and a true position of the government, I sincerely pray that the almighty God above touch this government to consider a befitting burial for the friend [Frankie] who was with Ebony during the accident which claimed their lives. That singular act of holding a funeral for both will be the only confirmation that the state felt some responsibility either born out of ethics, morals, tradition, or whatsoever to be of help, or else Ghanaians will consider the move as a mere political approach to the situation
Me: Please, let the benevolence of a befitting burial be extended to the late Frankie as well and not Ebony alone, I plead, Madam Minister. Thank you
Please kindly help share for a sister to also receive just a befitting burial and not a state burial, share ooooo share!!!!!
~ Elikem Kotoko
Cc:
@Joy997FM
@Citi973fm
@THEKojoYankson
@francis_abban
@Starr1035fm
@samueleshungh
@benkoku
@Blakkrasta
@USEmbassyGhana
