Bernice Offei

Bernice Offei was born in Accra, Ghana. Contemporary tributes and birthday posts place her birthday on 25 February, and reports at her death gave her age as 63, consistent with birth in 1963. Wikipedia notes some uncertainty between 1962 and 1963 in older summaries.

She attended Achimota School in Accra, where she nurtured an interest in music. After her O levels she taught herself guitar chords with help from a Christian friend and began singing at fellowship events. She later completed an MPhil in Crop Science at the University of Ghana and an MSc in Information Technology at University College London while living in the UK with her husband during his PhD studies.

Encouraged by Reverend Owusu-Afriyie of YAFCA, Offei began writing original gospel songs and released her debut album We Are Victors in 1991. Subsequent albums included Hold On, Me Kosu (also styled Me Kosu/Me Ko So in reports), Grateful (2004) and Life (2007).

• Hold On became a staple encouragement song in Ghanaian churches.
• Life Is Short, from the Life album, reflected on mortality and purpose and later became her most widely cited track.
• Other popular songs included Kaa She Gbeyei, Nyame Kokroko, N'adom Ara Kwa, It's By Grace, Who Could Stand and Nyame Aye Bi Ama Yen.

At the 2009 Ghana Music Awards she won Best Female Vocal Performance and Songwriter of the Year. Industry profiles credit her with six studio albums and more than forty songs spanning traditional highlife-tinged gospel and contemporary Christian styles.

Alongside music, Offei built a professional career in banking. After studying IT in the UK she joined Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana on a Y2K compliance contract and remained with the bank for years while continuing to write and minister. In 2016 she resigned to become a full-time gospel artist, saying she wanted to give undivided attention to ministry after long years of balancing both callings.

Offei was married to Professor Samuel Kwame Offei, a biotechnology academic who served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of Ghana. The couple had two children. She was often addressed affectionately as Auntie Bernice or Mama Bernice by younger gospel artists.

In early September 2026 her family publicly appealed for information after she was reported missing near Nyaho-Tamakloe Street, Agbogba, Accra. She was found safe within roughly 24 hours. The episode drew national attention shortly before news of her death.

Offei's public message centred on Christian faith, perseverance and gratitude. In interviews she urged gospel artists to focus on calling rather than awards, and she framed songwriting as pastoral work: helping listeners hold on through hardship and remember that life is short. Her lyrics frequently drew on scripture and everyday Ghanaian Christian experience rather than celebrity culture.

Bernice Offei died on the morning of 12 September 2026 at the age of 63. Ghana News Agency, Graphic Online, Starr FM, MyJoyOnline and other outlets reported the news the same day. Gospel producer Kwesi Ernest confirmed her passing on Facebook, writing that a gospel music legend had fallen. The cause of death was not made public in initial reliable reports.

Tributes followed from musicians, politicians and media houses across Ghana, many of them recirculating Life Is Short and Hold On as memorial listening.

Offei is remembered as a bridge between Ghana's late-20th-century gospel cassette era and the digital streaming age. Her songs remain in church repertoires and on platforms such as Boomplay and YouTube. She also stands as an example of a dual professional life: a senior-educated banker who treated gospel music as serious ministry.

For many listeners, Life Is Short now reads as both hit single and epitaph, while Hold On continues to be sung as an encouragement anthem.

• Best Female Vocal Performance, Ghana Music Awards (2009)
• Songwriter of the Year, Ghana Music Awards (2009)

These awards were associated with her work around the Life album era and are cited across Wikipedia and Ghanaian entertainment press.

Offei was not primarily known for public controversy. The main national news attention late in her life concerned her brief disappearance in Accra in early September 2026 and the subsequent confirmation of her death days later. Cause of death was not released publicly in early obituaries.