JONAH.

Very few people get to me.Rarely do I allow myself to embrace people especially colleagues,most of them are rarely loyal in my opinion.I engage in the office banter and laughter but nothing much,I like the idea of extroverted introvertedness especially with my work mates.As Toni Morrison said, get your money and go home.

I met Jonah in January we both work for the same organisation. We shared occasional hi and byes mainly because unlike me he did not clock in on the daily 8–5 rat race. Jonah had join a few months before as a consultant in the Extractives programme which was his passion. He wanted to make an impact on the Artisanal Miners in the country and was very proactive in doing so.

When COVID-19 hit and the Extractives programme gained momentum I started seeing or interacting more with Jonah. Our calls would be a cocktail of work and his need to hook me up with a friend or two and I’d always giggle because why not.Jonah wasn’t my best friend neither was he mine but he had a positive aura around him one that made everyone feel special and this is what hurts most.

On our last conversation he was happy about his son who according to him would be coming in in December and this really excited him. I walked him to the carpark where I had every intention of resisting a hug from him but he insisted not knowing that this would be my last.

I have not cried this hard in along time. Farewell Jonah,thank you for making us feel special in every way.