Politics in the NPP in Kumasi

This week has been hectic for political pundits in Kumasi. The NPP was holding primaries to elect parliamentary candidates who would represent the party in the various constituencies in the metropolis. There was really some shockers as persons widely tipped to win the contest failed in their bids to become parliamentarians.
The biggest shockers were at Subin and Manhyia where Mr George Ayisi-Boateng, a founder member of the NPP and Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister lost to Mr Isaac Osei, Cocobod Chief Executive and Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh respectively.

The Chief Executive of Cocobod, Isaac Osei, on Wednesday won the Subin constituency primaries of the NPP, when he polled 52 votes to beat two other contestants, Mr Eugene Antwi and Mr Ayisi-Boateng, in an election supervised by the Electoral Commission (E.C)
Whiles Mr Antwi obtained 34 votes Mr Ayisi-Boateng also got 18.
Mr Osei called on all the party members in the constituency to unite and work as a team to retain the seat
Mr Antwi and Mr Ayisi-Boateng also pledged to rally behind Mr Osei so as to maintain the seat for the NPP in the 2008
The election was nearly marred as it came twice that some
People were allegedly sharing monies at the congress.
At Kwadaso, Madam Josephine Hilda Addo the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) had a shock of her life as Dr Owusu-Afriyie-Akoto, Chairman of the Manifesto committee of the NPP who had 42 and Madam Addo, 30, defeated him. The third contestant Mr Alex Abel Adusei, deputy Executive Secretary of Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC)
The Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Ossei-Assibey Antwi was also defeated by Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, a Medical Officer 82 against 43

Hello!, Bobie on air

This guy is prolific in the Akan language. He is the anchor of Akan news at Hello FM in Kumasi and above all very humorous on air.
He calls himself Nana Kwabena Bobie Ansah and in all sincerity, he is unquestionably one of the finest twi news casters and presenters on the airwaves in the Ashanti region.
He is an amusing presenter Kumasi has known in recent years.
He works with Hello FM and aside twi news cast, he is the stop gap morning show host when the main anchor man, Tweneboa Kodua (TK) is not around.
He also host Saturday morning’s political talk show ”Akoko Abon” which is aired on Hello FM in Kumasi and Peace FM in Accra and all other affiliate stations of Peace FM.
Bobie, studied Akan langauge in school at the ‘O’ Levels but says that has no bearing with his proficiency in the language.
“I see it as my mother tongue and the vocabulary flows on my lips as soon as I sit behind the microphone”, he said in an interview with the Graphic Showbiz in Kumasi.
“I sometimes find it very difficult to understand some of the words I use on air when I sit down to reflect over them after listening to myself on tape but surprisingly, upon consultations, I get to realise that those fit perfectly”.
Undoubtedly, he has been able to use his frolics, comedy and his flowery Akan language to pull many listeners to Hello FM, ever since he joined the station from Peace FM.
He has been instrumental in making Hello Akan news one of the most listened to in Kumasi and the entire coverage area.
But some people object vehemently to his usage of proverbs in news items, playing with words on air and thinks he embellishes news items a lot when presenting them.
Responding to that, Bobie said he appreciates criticisms very much, since it helps to straighten up peoples’ lives.
“I am happy listeners have been pointing out my mistakes to me and I appreciate that so much”.
He claims he was inspired by Komla Dumlor’s style of radio presentation which attracted him to enter the radio business.
“I felt there was something missing in peoples’ social lives and felt the urge to be on air to help them fill that vacuum”.
He entered the radio industry in year 2000 at Mighty FM at Asante Mampong as a gospel presenter, where he played music and conducted religious morning devotions on air.
He worked for one year and moved to Meridian FM in Tema, where he worked for only eight months and moved back to Mighty FM at Mampong.
He was poached by Luv FM in Kumasi in 2004 where he worked for two years and moved on to Peace FM/Hello FM in 2006.
Bobie holds a Diploma in Theology from the Shiloh Bible College in Kumasi. He spent his entire childhood days at Asante Mampong, his hometown where he schooled.
His ambition is to seek peace for all humanity which he claims had culminated in his formation of the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Ghana Youth for Peace Association.
Kwabena feels many private radio station owners especially in Kumasi have not been doing much for their workers in terms of in house training and that is one of the things he would prefer to be changed.

Kumasi film actors are shocked over Kwame Owusu Ansah's death

“We have been devastated with the news of Owusu Ansah’s death”, this is how some players in the film industry in Kumasi have summed up their feelings about Kwame Owusu Ansah’s sudden death in a song.
The players are Evander Kwame Agyeman, a cameraman with Miracle Films and No Limit Entertainment, Nana Ama McBrown, Cornelius Phanthomas of Revelle Films, Yaw Owusu Ansah, a soundtrack engineer and Samuel Owusu Asare, an editor.
The dirge talks about how the actors feel about Owusu Ansah’s demise as they take turns to express their feelings and pain in the song.
Evander told the Graphic Showbiz in Kumasi that the idea of the song was spontaneous upon hearing about Kwame’s death.
“We were on a film set in Kumasi on Thursday night when news filtered in that Kwame had been involved in an accident”.
“Everybody on the set was shocked and we had to stop shooting. We reassembled the following day and heard he was in a coma in the morning but later received the unfortunate news in the afternoon”.
He said it was really a shocker for them as everybody on the set broke into tears. It was during the grief that Cornelius suggested that we team up to express our feelings and pain in a song”, he said.
Nana Ama McBrown refers to Kwame in the song as a senior brother and calls him “Braa Kwame”. She described the death as too sudden and said he would always be remembered.
Evander on his part said it was a great loss to them. “Personally Kwame was a brother to me. I took lots of inspiration from him”.
When contacted Naana Hayford, also a Kumasi based actor on her part said she was shocked upon hearing the news. “I was extremely shocked”, she said.
She described Kwame as a person who was full of inspiration especially on a film set and said he would be greatly remembered for his encouragement to fellow actors and choice of the phrase, “be bold”.
“Honestly, his demise has created a big vacuum”, she said.
She said they least expected a thing of that sort to happen to Kwame for them to lose his soul in a jiffy.
“But we are consoled by the fact that God in his own wisdom give life and take life. Our prayer is that God would keep Kwame’s soul in his bosom till we meet again”.