Graduating students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) paid a heartfelt tribute to their slain colleague, Joana Deladem Yabani, who was set to graduate with the Class of 2025.
During the ceremony, Overall Best Student Ebenezer Appiah Odei paused his address and invited the entire congregation to rise for a minute of silence in Joana’s honour.
The solemn moment swept through the auditorium as students, faculty, and families reflected on a life tragically cut short. The tribute by her classmates was a poignant gesture to acknowledge her brilliance and the future she was denied.
Joana Deladem Yabani was tragically murdered earlier this year, a loss that deeply shook the university community. The final-year student, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, was found dead around 5:00 a.m. on February 27, 2025, near the KNUST Disability and Rehabilitation Centre by campus security personnel.
She was allegedly strangled by a schoolmate believed to be her boyfriend, who remains in police custody as investigations continue.
