A renowned Iconic Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic Professor Atukwei John Okai will be buried today at the new Military Cemetery, Burma Camp. The state burial will be preceded by a state funeral service at the forecourt of the State House, in Accra.
Prof. Atukwei Okai who was a Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’ Association, (PAWA) and former president of the Ghana Association of Writers, (GAW) died in July at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital, after a short illness.
A source at GAW, told Ruth Adjorlolo of gbcghanaonline.com that a thanksgiving Service will be held for him on Sunday, September 16, 2018, 10:00 am at the Accra Ridge Church.
The prescribed dress code is all white.
Prof Atukwe Okai’s poems rooted in the oral tradition, he is generally acknowledged to have been the first real performance poet to emerge from Africa.
His performances on radio and television include an acclaimed 1975 appearance at poetry international at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where he shared the stage with US poets Stanley Kunitz and Robert Lowell, and Nicolas Guillen of Cuba.
Prof Okai died at age 77 and was survived by a wife and five daughters.
