By Japhet Alakam

LAGOS—More reactions have continued to pour in for late Ghanaian poet, statesman and lecturer, Kofi Awoonor who was killed in the Westgate attack last Saturday in Nairobi.

The 78-year-old Professor Awoonor, was in the city to participate in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a celebration of writing and storytelling.

He was due to perform last Saturday evening as part of a pan-African poetry showcase. He was a literary hero for many years and the famous composer of the lucid and widely read Songs of Sorrows.

Ghana’s President John Mahama described the death of Ghanaian writer, Prof. Kofi Awoonor, in the Kenya mall terrorist attack as shocking. In a handwritten tribute while transiting London, en route to New York, President Mahama, described Prof. Awoonor’s death as a “sad twist of fate.

“I am shocked to hear the death of Prof. Awoonor in the Nairobi Mall terrorist attack. This is a great loss to Ghana.

“He will be sorely missed by Ghanaians, family, friends and our party; the National Democratic Congress,” the president said.
Kenyan police authorities have been widely quoted as describing the incident as a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, has pledged to track down the perpetrators of the attack, which he described as ‘heinous and senseless’.

Kenyatta was quoted in a statement as describing Awoonor’s death as a huge loss to Africa.

“We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to, we shall get them, we shall punish them for this heinous crime,” the president said.

Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party, NPP, in the 2012 elections Nana Akufo-Addo said he is saddened by the death of one of Ghana’s illustrious sons, Professor Kofi Awoonor.

“Like many Ghanaians, I have heard with shock and dismay the news of the tragic killing of Prof Kofi Awoonor, former Chairperson of the Council of State, in the terrorist outrages committed at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.