"Efo Kodjo Mawugbe�s Death Could Be An Inspiration"

Playwright Uncle Ebo Whyte has joined colleagues in paying tribute to the late Efo Kodjo Mawugbe. Speaking to Citi News, he said although the death of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe is a huge loss, it could be an inspiration for several others to achieve what the late Efo Kodjo achieved. �The important thing about the passing of a man like Efo, is that quite often it creates a wave of inspiration for others. You see the tributes that would come about his life and what that would do is that it would inspire some of the people who feel discouraged and haven�t looked at putting in that much into theatre. "He has been a major inspiration and I am sure that now the focus will come on his work. It is a major loss but being the good man that he is, good will come from his death�. Dr. Mawuli Adjei, a close friend to the late Efo Kojo Mawugbe also paid tribute to Efo Kodjo in an interview with Citi News, saying the demise of Mr. Kojo Mawugbe will leave a huge gap in the arts and entertainment industry in Ghana. �The death of Kojo Mawugbe is a great loss to the nation and Africa because he was one of the very few people who were well grounded in African Culture and performing arts�. Award winning playwright and Director of the National Theatre Efo Kodjo Mawugbe was pronounced dead on Wednesday September 14 at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for prostate cancer. He was the winner of BBC's International Radio Playwriting Competition 2009 with his play, The Prison Graduates. Born on 21 April 1954, Efo Mawugbe schooled at the Mawuli Secondary School, where he obtained his General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary and Advance Levels. He later gained admission into the University of Ghana, where he studied Theatre Arts, majoring in playwriting from 1975 to 1978. Efo Kodjo Mawugbe further studied at the British Council, Glasgow and London, where he did a certificate programme in Theatre Management and Audience Development. From 1979-1984, he served as a Senior Research Assistant - African Theatre at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Centre for Cultural Studies) where he helped students in the development and production of plays. He has 19 plays to his credit including: "Aluta Continua" - drama - produced for radio, stage and T. V. distributed in Africa by URTNA (1979) and in 1980, "A Calabash of Blood" - Radio Drama- GBC in 1978, "The Unbending Branch" - Radio Drama (GBC).