Which Ghanaian Celebrities Have You Met?

I lived in the US six years and not once did I meet a star. Sure we had Floetry, Pink, Ann Coulter, Madeleine Albright, Judy Woodruff , Shelly Lazarus and others pass through Smith College when I was there

and I got to see Ama Ata Aidoo once at Amherst College (pictured above), Wole Soyinka, John Hope Franklin and Barbara Kingsolver at Duke University and Sam Jonah at Harvard University but I only got to see them by attending events like book readings, conferences, commencement, and talks. In many of these meetings, I didn't even get to speak with them or shake their hands.

Life in Ghana is sweeter than that. In the six months that I've been back here, I've bumped into the following Ghanaian stars, had chats with them and asked them questions as if it was the most ordinary thing to do:

1. Odompo, who acts in Obra, the popular Akan drama and Ghanaian movies and who I met in Madina and chatted with for over an hour.

2. Brew Riverson one of Ghana's finest actors who I worked with on a voice-over

3. Ebo Whyte, a respected playwright and host of a segment of JOYFM breakfast show called the Rover Report in whose play I'm acting (By the way, the play "Mr. President, Your Move" is showing at the National Theatre, from March 6th to March 8th...March 6th also happens to be Ghana's Independence Day).

5. Akosua Abdallah, another great actress who is remembered by many because of her role in Inspector Bediako, the detective show produced by Kojo Yanka as described in an interview conducted by A Choice of Weapons Blog. I met her through an acting workshop she conducted for the Roverman Group.

6. Amandzeba Brew who I really respect for his commitment to traditional Ghanaian music. I was sitting outside Yoofi Brew's studio (Yoofi is the guy who got me into doing voice-overs) waiting to be picked up by a friend when his brother Amandzeba showed up. I was starstruck but I still managed to tell him what a fan of his music I am.

7. Bola Ray, one of the most popular radio presenters and MCs in Ghana. I met Bola at the MTN Nine Lessons and Carols event at the Accra International Conference Centre where I read a lesson along with others including

George Andah of MTN and


Kojo Oppong Nkrumah of Joy FM breakfast show. Bola was the MC for the event who got a kick out of saying my middle name "woarabae"

8. Then just yesterday, at the gym I met Kwaku Sakyi-Addo at the water fountain:). Though I really wanted to talk, I didn't want to seem like a pest so I just gave him my card, told him how I want to be a writer and asked him to check out Wo Se Ekyir.

Isn't it an amazing thing that an ordinary Ghanaian can meet these personalities in just six months without having to go out of his/her way or even try? I think it's rather strange that so many of these people are in the arts and media. Am I in the wrong profession? Maybe I belong in advertising, the arts, or the media? I was also thinking how enriching it has been for me to talk to some of these people. When you interact with such people in real life you begin to dream that there is no magic gene for being great and that you too could be great at what you do. I think it's wonderful that in Ghana, our stars are within reach and not just people you see on tv. This is cool and should be celebrated!

You know why Wo Se Ekyir is awesome? Because no other blog gives you the platform to talk about your brush with Ghanaian celebrities/greats/icons. Meanwhile we all know we want to tell somebody:) I mean whole publications and websites are dedicated to gossiping about Beyonce and Shakira. Not that we need that kind of madness here but a little chit chat never hurt anyone, especially when in Ghana, we actually get to meet these people feeli feeli (tr: live or in person) without crowds and cameras getting in our way. I'd really like to meet both ex-presidents and get to talk to them about their lives, Patrick Awuah, Kwame Despite, Kwaw Kesse, do I sound like I want to start doing interviews soon? hehe. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Anyway I'll end with these two questions:

1. Which Ghanaian stars/greats/icons have you met, how did it happen, what did you say to them, were you star-struck?
2. Which Ghanaian stars/greats/icons (living or dead) would you like to (or have liked) to meet, and why? What would you say (or have said) to them?