IF you have lived in this country over the past decade it is very likely that you would have been blessed to have had the opportunity of living in the era when two of Ghana�s most celebrated morning show hosts have been strutting the radio turf.
To put this in context I would like to say initially that I have often held the view that Komla Dumor is perhaps the best thing that happened to urban radio when as a university student he chanced on it in the mid 1990s out of disappoint and boredom from staying at home when lecturers were on strike.
His fast maturity to become the host of the Super Morning Show on Joy FM and thereby establishing himself as coming close to being the best on that day part since the liberation of the airwaves and subsequently moving on to the BBC to make it bigger is there for all to see.
However, while Dumor may have ridden in the shining light of the more up market audience focused stations there was and has always been one other man who has been doing a fantastic and tremendous job of hobnobbing, and brilliantly so, with a station that has created the platform and opportunity for an audience base consisting hugely of people within the lower end of the market.
Kwami Sefa Kayi needs no introduction as, in my humble view, he has been the most consistent performer on the big stage of Ghanaian urban radio for almost two decades. He has been there and done all that than most other people have and in this column today I will try to eulogise the legend in our midst.
When he was at Radio Gold and hosting programmes like Lunch With Kwami, Morning Show, Editor�s Help Line and Ka Na Wu, Kwami Sefa Kayi was like a demi god at the station. He was what you can refer to as the station�s poster boy as he hosted the juiciest programmes and interacted well with the guests and listeners.
It must be noted that at Radio Gold Sefa Kayi primarily communicated with his guests and listeners in English although he could express himself in a few local languages and therefore interacted a few times with callers who preferred to speak those languages.
Thus his attempt at the time to transit as a purely English speaking broadcaster to one who would be broadcasting 90% of the time in Akan was worrisome to key observers at the time and it was thought of as a risk that might put pay to his burgeoning career as an astute broadcaster.
His view was to take the risk and damn the consequences that were likely to come with it and one should admit that it had been a risk worth taking as his arrival at Peace FM has led to a collaboration that has multiplied his fortune (both broadcast and more) and that of the station as well.
The arrival of Sefa Kayi at Peace FM would be the beginning of the dominance of the station itself and its morning show in terms of share of listenership and reach in the capital and everywhere else that the station is listened to.
If Kwami Kayi was a demi god at his previous place of work then he had transmogrified (not strangely or grotesquely in this context) into a bigger, better and ominously destructive deity to his personal and the station�s competition.
Consistently for many years Peace FM�s Kokorokoo has been the leader in all listenership surveys carried out in this market. It has managed to keep the listeners tuned in for years and has managed to keep the competition at bay.
The fact has to be mentioned that before Kayi arrived though the station itself was on the rise and yet it needed his industry, guile, skill and talent to push it up further than it would have been without him.
From where I look at it there are five things that have contributed to develop the inchoate or if you like, the work-in-progress Sefa Kayi into the refined world beater has become in the last decade and in the next few paragraphs I will attempt to discuss all five elements as I see them.
The first point to note is Sefa Kayi�s passion for the job. He loves the job and therefore shows a lot of enthusiasm for it and consequently ensures that he prepares adequately every morning to face his panel, listeners, colleagues and other interlocutors. Yeah everybody loves their job, but the passion with which Kwami attaches to his own pushes him to learn more, know more and do more to keep the show relevant and maintain that leadership position it has gained over the years. I am sure he knows and has been thoroughly informed by his employers that resting on the gains made by the station without attaching as much passion would be relinquishing that enviable leadership position in the market. You see passion in his general approach to the programme, passion in his questioning, passion in the music he chooses for the day and passion in his interactions.
The other thing that has kept Sefa Kayi on top of his game for so long a time is how he creatively weaves a good dose of witticism into the programme even when things are heady and emotions are boiling at a triple-figure degree Celsius levels. It must be said again that Safa Kayi is wise enough to know that he is humorous but the show is not a comedy show and so he keeps it as serious as it could be and yet with a good dose of wit here and there to properly spice it so it won�t leave any bad after taste on the palate. That art of mixing humour with serious business in equal measure stands him out above some who have killed their shows because they did not have the skill, the talent or the good sense to perform that balancing act.
Thirdly, Kwame Sefa Kayi�s non-committal and non-aligned moderatorial (the silly computer has underlined this word although dictionary.com says it�s the adjectival form) style is totally exotic and appreciable. He asks the questions and allows the people to answer them and comes in when he has to without being seen to be involved with one side or the other. A friend called me the last time and was asking which side of the political divide Kayi was and I asked him if it was necessary that everyone be on one side or the other. It is quintessentially Ghanaian to ascribe a political party colour to people and Kwami Kayi has had his fair share of that Ghanaian essence as a lot of people have at one time or the other coloured him this way or that way. Of course even Dr. Afari Djan votes and therefore would have his preferred political party, but what�s the big deal either way? I am sure Kayi knows it comes with the terrain and so he would take it on the chin and continue to do his best as he has always done �for God and country.�
I have always said that Sefa Kayi�s tolerance for that kind of show is absolutely commendable. I listen to his show sometimes and I wish I could go to the studio and whoop someone�s behind or look for some of those serial callers and punch them in the face. One needs a lot of patience, tolerance and long suffering to be able to host a show like Korokoo with such illogic arguments most of the time and terribly biased callers all the time and having maintained that without having a serious heart attack for about a decade needs commendation. I would have died by now! It must be said though that Sefa Kayi is who you can refer to as a fair but firm host in his daily job because he relaxes for the people to do what they want to do but ensures in a resolute manner that be they callers, co-presenters or panellists do not cross certain lines. One needs such a character to last as long as he has and lead the pack whilst at it.
It must be noted that with all the talent available to him and the skill and knowledge he has acquired in this business over the years Kwami Sefa Kayi would have to be very grateful to a very strong production team all the time that he has been handling this show and that is my fifth reason for which he has dominated the market. From the days of Akwasi Acquah through those of Kojo Preko and Jerry Mordi till the days of Kwadwo Asante, the production teams have been solid and hve helped him and show immensely. It is fair to say that all through this period the one person, the one unsung hero who has driven the show from the shadows and has helped in no small measure to make it what it is by supervising production and given direction here and there has to be Fadda Dickson. His modesty is world class but he really has contributed immensely to making Kokorokoo and Peace FM what they are today.
I am not a fan of Korokoo and anytime I tune it to listen it is not because I want to get something substantial beyond laughing at some of the claims politicians make. However, it is show that many listen to and appreciate hence I cannot but admire the work Sefa Kayi has done over the years. He is a tremendously talented broadcaster and if anyone had any objection to why he was given the national award for his effort they might have to think about it again.
If anybody deserves to be honoured for his efforts and role in developing the broadcast scene in the capital then the legendary Kwami Sefa Kayi deserves it. However, his guests and co-presenters should be commended too for helping to develop this talent into a world class one.
Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @TheGHMediaGuy
Source: Francis Doku/Showbiz
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