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Francis Doku asks what could have lured Adinkrah from Atinka to Abusua?

By graphic.com.gh
Kwame Adinkra with Bola Ray
Kwame Adinkra with Bola Ray
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“Several times Kumasi’s sweetheart, one time the man many people in the Garden City loved to listen to before they do any other thing in the morning, the one they used to call (or rather called himself) the Apotitimati of Kumasi has finally switched camp and allegiance.

“Kwame Luther King Adinkrah, the former host of the morning show on Kapital Radio, Fox FM and until recently, Angel FM, has switched camp not to another station in Kumasi, but to the nation’s capital. 

Yes, finally Adinkrah decided to traverse the long journey and Adinkrah has finally berthed his ship in Accra.

On January 7 this year, Adinkrah interviewed the president on Angel FM, an interview which was simulcast on other stations including Radio Gold. 

It appeared that was his swan song for the people of Kumasi as he was headed for Accra.

“One month after that interview with the president, on February 9, the citizens of Accra will wake up to the mellifluous voice of Kwame Adinkrah booming through their radio on the 104.7 frequency modulation dial, I am reliably informed.”

The quote above is from a piece I wrote in this column and published on February 5, 2015. 

It was a piece in which I welcomed Kwame Adinkrah to Accra and asked a few questions as well. 

“Question to ask is whether Adinkrah still has it in him to be able to affect the capital as his employers expect him to. Is it too late in the day for this movement? 

Should he have come to Accra earlier? Should he have stayed in Kumasi and solidified his massive presence on the Kumasi airwaves?”

Last Monday, Kwame Adinkrah started as the morning show host on Abusua FM, a new station that the EIB Network has set up in Kumasi to compete in the local segment of the market. 

Remember, they already have Ultimate FM playing in the English segment.

There have been media reports about whether it was Adinkrah who approached EIB or EIB poached him and whether or not he had breached the terms of his contract with Atinka, but I am not interested in any of that for now, maybe we shall talk about that on another day.

What I am interested in discussing today is the reason that could possibly have given the impetus for him to jump the Atinka ship in the middle of the ocean. I am going to use the questions I asked last year to try to find out why this could have happened.

Does Adinkrah still has it in him to be able to affect the capital as his employers expect him to? I knew he had it in him considering his track record over the years and the fact that he was a good as they come. 

However, going to affect the capital as was expected of him and for which he was paid moneybags I was certain would be a tall order.

At the time he arrived, there were some giants on the morning show and it would take a lot more effort, patience and perseverance to get anywhere close. 

Unfortunately, many investors in radio do not have such patience and therefore in haste to recoup their investment and if that was how his employers at Atinka FM were, he was going to have an uphill climb.

Is it too late in the day for this movement? Considering he had offers earlier from both Peace FM and Adom FM, offers he declined (in the case of Adom FM everything was agreed until he reneged in the final analysis) at a time when the opportunity was the best for him to take advantage of, I felt his decision to come to Accra was a tad late.

Should he have come to Accra, earlier? Of course this question segues into the previous one thus the answer to it is in the previous one. If he really wanted to come to Accra he should have done it earlier, Adom FM was in Tema then, Sefa Kayi didn’t have a Captain Smart to compete with and it sure would have been a two horse race in that segment of the market.

Should he have stayed in Kumasi and solidified his massive presence on the Kumasi airwaves? Well, the answer to this question is up in the air. Perhaps he should have because when he left Kumasi that seemed like the last Don leaving his empire. There was no strong person left to do the morning show considering that the one other person who comes close, Captain Smart had taken the lead to Accra. So on that basis you can say he should have remained in Kumasi and keep his Apotitimati status.

On the other hand, though, you would answer that it was good that he came to Accra to see what happens here and to try as much as he can to beat the men and women who have dominated morning show on the radio in the capital for so long.

However, it was not meant to be and after almost a year and half, he has returned to his home city of Kumasi to take up another adventure as host of the morning show on Abusua FM 96.5FM. 

I am sure many people in the Garden City will be happy their son came back. Suffice to say there are some who won’t be happy he returned.

The big question that has to be is whether Adinkrah failed in Accra. The answer is that not straight forward. Though one had to add that if he had been very successful he would have stayed on for far longer. The fact is that Atinka’s platform is too low to have given him the ability to take them to the top of the slippery pole in the period that he was there.

As previously mentioned, it would have taken a bit of time for any real success to be seen. If he had gone to Adom FM or Peace FM, it would not have been as bad as going to Atinka made it look. A new station, even if rebranded from an innocuous station called Sena Radio and based in Tema, meant the job would be tougher and indeed it turned out to be.

It is fair to say that going back to Kumasi as early as this was a good decision. Staying in Accra for far too long would have resulted in him either losing his name or waiting for eons to establish his legend as he did many times over in Kumasi.

Abusua means family in Akan and it is instructive to note that going back to Kumasi means going back to his family. 

If in Accra he felt like fish out of water, I am sure in Kumasi he will feel like rat in a hole. 

If the expression “the home is where the heart is” is something to put any credence on, Kwame Luther King Adinkrah has exemplified it.

In due course, I will have a piece on the real reasons for his departure after I have met and spoken with him. 

For now though, we can only conjecture that he wanted to go home and got a deal he couldn’t refuse. 

Let’s see how this new adventure in Kumasi can compare with the other great jobs he did as host of the morning shows at Kapital Radio, Fox FM and Angel FM.  

graphic.com.gh