3-day Fast Got Me Into Okay FM — Ama Sarpong Kumakuma

Desperate times they say call for desperate measures and for UTV’s Ama Sarpong Kumankuma, when she reached the end of the line some years ago, she realised she needed something extra to get results.

Taking a step of faith, she undertook a three-day dry fast and went on her knees to pray for divine intervention and that action is what landed her her first major radio job with Okay FM in Accra.

Narrating what happened four years ago when Showbiz caught up with her at work, Ama said, “How I ended up working for the Despite Group Of Companies is a miraculous one. You know in December, firms don’t usually like to employ but my story was different.

“I was employed in the second week of December 2012 and before I went to meet Fadda Dickson, General Manager of Despite Group of Companies, I had done a dry-fast for three days. When it ended, I went straight to the front desk of Peace FM. The receptionist asked me if I had an appointment with him(Dickson) and I lied and said yes.

“When I met him, he asked me to do some voice recordings but he never came down to listen to me so I left. The next day, I went back to to see him and this time, I followed him everywhere he went until he gave in.”

Continuing she said, “We went to the studio together and as soon as I started, he stepped out and returned with a newspaper and asked me to do a live review. After a few minutes, he asked when I could start work and I said that same day. But he asked me to start the next day and that was the turning point for me. My life has never been the same since then.”

Before the Okay FM job, Ama Sarpong Kumankuma had a stint with Hot FM also in Accra and one other radio station in the Central Region where she didn’t like the conditions.

Ama has now transitioned from radio to UTV and is one of the recognisable faces on the screen. She does the newspaper review on the Morning Show, Adekye Nsoroma and reads the news, but she is perhaps best known for hosting the discussion segment on their weekend telenovalas where she uses the tagline ‘Alagege.’

“My initial interest was to do radio and I did that for two years. Then one day, they needed someone to go to the market to get the public’s views on the most popular telenovela at the time, Wild At Heart (aka Marie Cruz) and I opted to go. That was how I took over,” she said.

Ama told Showbiz her past circumstance and current success she is enjoying has not gone to her head at all. Instead, it has strengthened her relationship with God.

“God has been good to me and I am now into Him even more than ever. My past is really bad. I have had to live in an uncompleted building with my family, I have been accused of stealing by a pastor’s wife because I was staying with them, I have had to sell fried yam and beef.

“I remember my siblings and I were nicknamed Africa Queen. At that time, that was the mackerel in season and we had credited so much that it became our second name. At a point, no one was ready to sell to us because we owed so much,” the first of six children stated.

“Now I do not joke with my prayers and I have time for God. I will never forget His blessings and I always make Him my priority.”

She encouraged people to have faith in God or whatever it is they believe in because miracles still exist.