Philipa Baafi triplets die

Popular gospel musician Philipa Baafi, who was reported to have successfully delivered a set of triplets somewhere in 2008, lost all three new-born babies a few months after delivery.

The thick-lipped gospel songstress, known for her hit song ‘Go High’ which was adopted by the then ruling New Patriotic Party for their campaign and even became more popular during the CAN 2008 tournament hosted in Ghana, disclosed this in an exclusive interview last Sunday, April 3, 2011 during Kwasi Aboagye’s ‘Gospel Hour’ programme on Peace FM.

Philipa, who was in tears, said in a shaky voice that the sad incident happened about three years ago, but she kept the information away from the media because she didn’t know how to break the news to her fans and Ghanaians in general after everybody had expressed joy upon hearing about the birth of the kids.

Coincidentally, last Sunday was exactly three years since the death of the triplets and Philipa couldn’t hold on to the news anymore and so had no choice than to share the heartbreaking news.

Philipa Baafi’s husband, Mr. Kwame Karikari, confirmed the news on Peace FM’s ‘Entertainment Review’ on Thursday, April 7, and gave a vivid explanation as to how it really happened.

He disclosed that the triplets (two boys and one girl) were born in Maryland, United States of America.

‘It is very sad news but all these years, we kept it to ourselves. Aside our pastor and one family member, nobody knew about it.
It is true my wife gave birth to a set of triplets and everybody was happy for us everywhere we went’. According to Mr. Karikari, about four months after their birth, they began to face serious health challenges.

‘They became very sick and we had to take them to an intensive care unit. They were put under observation in an incubator for over two months, but they were still not responding, so the doctors in charge of them advised us that if they continue to live, there will be a lot of complications’.

He explained that their brain could not develop well and they had severe heart problems, among other things. They had to be taken out of the incubator to see if they might survive, but unfortunately they couldn’t survive and they all died together.

Explaining why they kept it to themselves all this while, he said they didn’t know how to destroy the happiness of all those people who congratulated them on the news of the birth of the triplets.

He added that they tried to tell family members on several occasions but any time they tried, the family members would begin asking several questions about the children even before they (the parents) started talking. ‘It was simply difficult for us to tell anyone.

People kept asking for their pictures and how old they were but we always told them it would all come out in God’s own time. So after three years, we thought it was just right for Ghanaians and the world to know what really happened’.

Asked whether they have regretted coming out with the sad news, or they feel relieved for getting it off their chest, Karikari said, ‘We have not regretted whatsoever, and we don’t see it as a burden. We just want people to know the truth and know what really happened’.

He said there have been mixed feelings from friends and family after they had information of the children’s death.

‘Some of my friends look at me in a certain way and say I must be very wicked to keep such a serious issue to myself all this while and others sympathise with me when they meet me or my wife’.

He said Philipa, who was very moody on Sunday after she broke the news on Peace FM, was very fine and stable now as lots and lots of people kept calling to sympathize with her and encourage her.

The gospel singer has therefore put all her bitter experience in a song on her new album titled ‘Nea eba wonsem afi yi, so sen nea efri wonsa’ (meaning: What you will have this year will be more than what you lost).

However, God has blessed Philipa with a new baby girl who, according to her husband, looks very much like the only girl who was among the triplets.
At the moment, Philipa doubles as a musician and a beauty therapist. She has two shops in Kumasi.

Philipa was born in Kumasi on May 15, 1980, the first of three children born to Ms Grace Acheampong, a trader, and Mr. Akwasi Baafi, who was domiciled in Germany, both of blessed memory.

She started school at the Kings International School, before continuing at St Monica’s, where she was the girls’ prefect, the President of the Scripture Union and the Science Club.

She has gospel divas, Amy Newman of Ghana and Rebecca Malope of South Africa, as her local and international role models respectively.

Source: Peacefmonline