David Ghartey-Tagoe: A Broadcast Icon
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About this ebook
David Kwesi Ghartey-Tagoe
David Kwesi Ghartey-Tagoe is a product of Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, University of Swaziland, University of Ghana, Legon and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi and holds a Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Arts in English and History, a Masters Degree and Certificates in Journalism. Between 1987 and 1995, Kwesi taught English Language and Literature in English at Mfantsipim, his Alma Mater, and Accra Academy. Kwesi is indeed a chip of the old block. Suspending the art of chalk and talk, he pursued a career in Journalism. He joined Lando Services, a multi-media consultancy firm in 1996 as the Operations Manager. While there, he produced two programme series for Ghana Television: Health Matters, which he also hosted, and Panache, a beauty and fashion magazine programme. He also supervised the production of a number of television adverts. In 1999 Kwesi left Lando Services to assist in the establishment of Radio Peace, a not-for-profit grassroots rural community radio dedicated to giving ‘voice’ to the community in addressing social concerns and promoting social change. He is currently the Station Manager of Radio Peace and very passionate at what he does. He has been instrumental in organising and facilitating a number of training sessions in several rural communities; empowering community members to participate in radio programme production. Again, he played a key role in the establishment of the Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN), currently the main institution supporting and facilitating the development of rural community broadcasting in Ghana. And at its Annual General Meeting in 2008, he was elected Chairman of its Council. Kwesi is very much involved in Media Training and has also presented academic papers around the theme: Community Journalist and Civic Engagement in various places including the University of Guelph. David Ghartey-Tagoe is an unrivalled broadcaster and a dedicated family man who loves his God so writing a book about him has been a fulfilment of Kwesi’s dream.
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David Ghartey-Tagoe - David Kwesi Ghartey-Tagoe
Copyright © 2010 by David Kwesi Ghartey-Tagoe.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This book was printed in the United States of America.
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
Xlibris Corporation
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300474
Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
DEBUT
GENESIS
Childhood Challenges
MFANTSIPIM SCHOOL
Ghartey-Tagoe: The Name
The Monsoon Holidays
Still at Mfantsipim
MOVING ON
Jane Micah-Sam comes into the picture
STILL MOVING ON
Cape Coast and Matters Arising . . .
Apaa Paado
CAREER CHANGE
First day on the Job
Training Period
Inauguration of Ghana Television
The First Television News
Death of Mother
QUEST FOR UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
DAVID’S RETURN
The Trip to Glasgow: To be or not to be . . . ?
Television Management Course
Director of Television; who takes the seat?
Hang-Over
Interesting Developments
UNESCO Broadcast Expert
THE SECOND COMING
Promoted Deputy Director General
Acting Director General
Fire at GBC
David’s Retirement
REFLECTIONS, WRITTEN AND PRESENTED BY DAVID ON GHANA TELEVISION OCTOBER, 1987
NO CHOICE IS MADE BY NOT CHOOSING
MIGHTY TROUBLES FROM TINY SOURCES
BE KIND AND SHOW YOUR GREATNESS
DREAMING PAYS
LOOK UP
V I T A M I N S
BEAUTY AIDS
LOOK FORWARD TOWARD THE SUN
RETIRED BUT NOT TIRED
With the Methodist Church, Ghana
With the University of Ghana, Legon
ASSET TO HIS COMMUNITY
REVELATION
Freemasonry
Devotion to his Church
The true Family Man
POSTSCRIPT
NOTES
This book is dedicated to my magnificent and beautiful mother
Jane Ghartey-Tagoe also called Ekuwa Samba
His wife
My lovely children
Abena Esabah, Nana Efuwa Adaaba, Nenyi Akyempon Gyatε & Paa Sam
His grandchildren
&
Ayodele
My loving and devoted wife
Through all the changing scenes of life,
In trouble and in joy,
The praises of my God shall still
My heart and tongue employ.
Of His deliverance I will boast,
Till all that are distressed
From my example comfort take,
And charm their griefs to rest.
[First two stanzas of MHB 427 by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady]
Image6620.JPGGhartey-Tagoe for Ghana Television News . . .
David delivering the news on Ghana Television!
The first newscaster on Ghana Television
Image6652.JPGDavid was initiated into the Lodge Morality No.
1362 S.C. in Kumasi, Ghana in 1954 and he’s risen
to the rank of Past District Senior Grand Warden
(PDSGW). He is the only surviving Founder of
Winneba Lodge No. 7708 E.C
Image6684.JPGDavid and Jane
They’ve been happily married since December 1958.
FOREWORD
This is a remarkable book and Kwesi, my brother and dear friend, has done a wonderful job capturing the essence of our father, David Ghartey-Tagoe, who we also affectionately call Mpaa
. Kwesi demonstrates in this book that he knows Mpaa well. This is not surprising. After all, he is the first born, shares the same Christian name, lived with him longer than any of the other siblings, has followed a similar career path, and as he explains in the book, has many other things in common with Mpaa. In addition to providing insights into what it is like being the son of Mpaa, this book also reflects Kwesi’s extensive research into Mpaa’s life as a youth, family man, teacher, and broadcaster. Interestingly, it also provides a tutorial on various aspects of Efutu culture.
Kwesi has captured Mpaa’s propensity to dream big quite well. Mpaa is indeed quite the dreamer, often building huge castles in the air! In addition to being a dreamer, Mpaa is also an eternal optimist. Regardless, of the circumstances, he always seems to believe everything will turn out alright. I am often reminded of one of his favourite sayings and Bible verses when I am faced with a challenge: Nothing is too hard for God.
All this, of course, is not surprising, given Mpaa’s strong Christian faith.
Mpaa was a strict but loving father. For example, I remember that growing up in the Ghartey-Tagoe household, church attendance was never optional—and I am eternally grateful to my parents for that. Mpaa was a strict and loving father. As with most good parents, however, he allowed us more and more freedom to make our own decisions as we grew older. I remember one decision that he allowed me to make in 1982 that I regret to this day. At the time he was a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO
) consultant and we lived in Ndola, Zambia. My sister and a friend were scheduled to perform the Adowa
, a Ghanaian Ashanti dance, at a multicultural festival and he asked me to introduce the dance. I just did not want to do it, and till this day I don’t know why, except that I was 19 years old and probably feeling rebellious. Mpaa did not force me to do it, but he tried to talk me into it and failed. Looking back, I feel very silly about what I did but I also learned a little about parenting. A parent need not intervene merely because a child is making a mistake. Many times, the lessons learned from experience last longer.
Mpaa is also a consummate professional and Kwesi captures that facet of his life well. He was quite passionate about his work and I have vivid memories of him sitting in our living room in Accra, watching Ghana TV, and snapping his fingers in anticipation of the end of a commercial or a program. While I was too young to remember seeing him read the news on TV, I have heard numerous times from many people who witnessed it all of how well he read the news and what a master he is of the English language. Such excellence simply set a high bar for us his children.
Kwesi has done a fine job capturing the story of Mpaa’s life in this book. I hope you enjoy reading about Mpaa and are inspired by his rise from humble beginnings, his pursuit of excellence, and his remarkable human qualities. Well done, Kwesi.
Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe
Charlotte, NC.
USA
PREFACE
Two things I have been told: that the purpose of a biography is to report on a person’s life in an informative and entertaining manner, and at the end of any biography, the reader should feel that the writer knows the subject on a personal level. Unfortunately, I don’t think this feat is achievable. It is simply not possible, in my estimation, to gather a report on every fact in a comprehensive and unbiased manner, while making it entertaining to the reader. In fact, I believe, no one, could possibly tell the whole story of his or her own life. Even an autobiography is likely to be a partial story. However, it is possible to assemble enough evidence about a person’s life, and to build a picture of the person that is faithful and true.
I must also state that this is not an official
biography. No editorial control was asked, requested or received. In fact, when I decided to write a biography of David Ghartey-Tagoe, I determined that it must be my take on his extraordinary life and should not be compromised by being seen as ‘authorized’ in any way. It was out of my own free will that I made him see the proofs of my endeavours. I have avoided cluttering the narrative with footnotes and reference numbers. The details can be found within the narrative or at the end pages of the book.
This book is the biography of David Ghartey-Tagoe. It represents a fulfillment of a dream. To tell this story during my father’s lifetime is a unique privilege. Writing this book also has been both very easy and extremely difficult. It has been easy, because I had access to an unrivalled collection of materials on his life. Moreover I was the lucky recipient of the support of David Ghartey-Tagoe himself. But, it has been difficult, because this bibliographic collection resides with me, and David Ghartey-Tagoe is my father. Having spent almost all my life under the baleful eye of a disciplinarian and one who expects excellence in all things, writing this book was not an entirely stress free process. Nevertheless, I have believed for years that it was important for me to tell his fascinating life story while he is still alive. Despite my long held belief about writing this biography, I have been unable to muster sufficient fortitude to take on this project until now. It simply has been daunting to think of conveying a clear and entertaining picture of a quick-minded personality such as David Ghartey-Tagoe. I have been working, on and off, gathering letters, photographs, recordings, talking to him and those close to him and above all living with him, in order to capture as much as I can of his fulfilling life. Compiling the results, which you hold in your hands, has been, frustrating, but ultimately enlightening and satisfying.
Initially, my interest was solely in his career as a distinguished broadcaster. Not long after I started this project, however, it became clear that it would be wrong to try to separate his life from his career. I will attempt, therefore, not only to look at his life in total but at what it was like to live it at its several stages. I will deal with the intimate, inconsistent textures of his personality and experience. Indeed he is a major figure in Ghana’s radio and television history, and his life and work must really be told as part of the history of Ghana radio and television and its impact.
The David Ghartey-Tagoe I know is a husband, patriarch, a father, a family man, a church leader, and an unsurpassed broadcaster. Indeed, he is much more. He is a man with a public image built on integrity. He evokes elegance and gentility. As I attempt to put thoughts on paper, the words don’t seem quite right. They seem so inadequate. He is now seventy nine and still counting, firing on all cylinders. He is actively involved in alleviating poverty in several communities in the Central Region of Ghana. He has established a grassroots, rural community radio station—the first of its kind in the Central Region of Ghana. The Station is a vehicle that empowers the communities it serves to have a voice on issues that affect them. If this is not for the total good of God and Country, then I do not know what it is. I believe God is kind to him and sees to it that his qualities and his gifts are endearing. Perhaps, this great humanity which is constantly reflected in his work, explains David Ghartey-Tagoe’s success and the high regard in which he is held by so many people, including some who have never met him. Alexander Pope’s couplet is very appropriate here:
Nature and Nature’s laws hid in night,
God said, Let Newton be!
and all was light.
Like Alexander Pope, I say, let David Ghartey-Tagoe be!
. I want to be able to say this is the David Ghartey-Tagoe I have known and know. Whether or not people will want to have that bit of him, I do not know, but I want to make it available to all.
DEBUT
DEBUT
It was a Saturday.
The date? 31st July, 1965
The time? 7.30pm
The place? The television studios of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Accra.
A young man is seen wrapped in a rich Ghanaian kente cloth. This is a big day for him. He is about to make history. This skinny young man of thirty six has taken a seat before television cameras. The signature tune to usher in the news, the beating of fontomfrom, calling the nation to attention: Ghana mo ntie, Ghana mo ntie mo mmεhwε bi . . . is being played. Signature tune stops. The newscaster is revealed on Ghana television. After a successful 15 minutes newscast, the young man with a good deal of historic ecstasy signs off the bulletin thus:
Ghartey-Tagoe for Ghana Television News, Goodnight.
David Ghartey-Tagoe has become Ghana’s first television newscaster; the very first person to have read the news on Ghana Television. He was to do so alone for a very long period before other able personalities like Kwame Amamoo, John Hammond, Robert Owusu, Edward Farkye and others joined.
David Ghartey-Tagoe had a wonderful, relaxed style in the studio. Those who saw him and can remember, I am sure, watched him with awe. He was without doubt a star. He looked like a star, he acted like a star. He dazzled. He had huge energy and charisma. He spoke the English Language the way it should be spoken. He indeed set the standard and the ball rolling for others who are on the scene today.
Image6620.JPGGhartey-Tagoe for Ghana Television News . . .
David is seen here delivering the news on Ghana Television.
The first newscaster on Ghana Television
GENESIS
GENESIS
Maternal and Paternal Lineage
So, where did this pioneer of Ghana Television come from? What led him to television? How did his upbringing shape his