Meet the future president of Ghana: Kwadwo Safo Jr

The fifth son of multi-talented and creative man of God Apostle Kwadwo Safo, also known as African Star, business mogul Kwadwo Safo Jnr has revealed his ambition to become the president of Ghana one day. He made this revelation on Adom 106.3 FM’s entertainment review programme ‘Adom Entertainment Hall’ hosted by Kojo Preko Dankwa. In a refreshingly candid interview, Kwadwo Safo Jnr professed his love for business and a determination to carefully think through problems and act decisively to solve them.
The young businessman, became a commercial pilot at the tender age of 19 and runs most of his father’s many businesses, also revealed his love for Ghanaian music. He also dismissed the claim that he and his family were inward looking and anti-social. He however refused to discuss his recent break up with actress Juliet Ibrahim.

Read part I of the full text as presented by “Kojo Preko and friends; Bandex and DJ Amess.” 

Kojo Preko (KP): Kwadwo Sarfo Jnr you are welcome and is everything cool?

Kwadwo Sarfo Jnr (KSJ):…and you?

KP: By his Grace we are fine…..I like your dress. Why do you like this type of dress…a long casual attire…..are you a Muslim?

KSJ: No I am not a Muslim but I feel easy and comfortable whenever I am in such dresses, free ventilation and enter every parts of the body including what you are thinking.

KP: Listeners the dress I am talking about is this type…….how is it call? KSJ: They call it Jamalia or Caftan  
KP: That is what he prefers…..do you wear suits? KSJ: I own a lot of suits and braces….I like the African wear and I prefer them to the suits and what have you.

KP: You believe in African wear? Why you don’t want to barber or trim your hair and your beard?

KSJ: Yes I like African wear. I admire and like bushy hair because it befits my facial expression whiles the bearded face is what kills me (amidst prolong laughter among the panel and the host). It adds to my handsomeness and people admire it and added to my face value and as he put it “it makes the market value very high”. Who Is Kwadwo Safo Jnr?

KSJ:Kwadwo Safo Jnr is an Ashanti born from Essumangya and a pilot, a businessman in charge of Kantaka Group of Companies which owned farms, quarry, hospitals, schools, transports, soon to be operated television station, Kantaka assembly plant and many others…..

KP: (…interruption we shall come to all that….), we know you are a pilot whose plane do you pilot?

KSJ: When we at (Kantaka) conceived the idea and research into these technologies we took into consideration the aviation aspect so I decided to pursue that agenda in line with Papa’s (his dad) vision and “my intention was not to go into this expensive venture to fly someone else’s plane but to help develop our own technology and research into what to do at Kantanka’s research site” he revealed at the interview.

KP: So it was your father’s vision you decided follow and at what stage did it occur to you that you will pursue Papa’s ideas and vision or is it was your father who imbibed that spirit in you or again it was your own idea to break into such complex technology-driven industrialization in other to pursue it?

KSJ: Both! This is because our training and upbringings tells you what the Oldman is aiming at and more so at a certain age in one’s life you got to know where you have gotten to you should separate bad from good so if you evaluate the options it is obvious for you to know what to do. Looking back I think I made the right choice because it has helped me tremendously.

KP: Tell me how life was when you were young….like how was it?

KSJ: It was fun…it was really fun. I mean…….

KP : (….interruption) I was told you were stubborn, insolent, too inquisitive but creative? KSJ: Oooh! I was, because as young men growing up if you don’t go through such heart-breaking experiences like stubbornness or insolence it means something was wrong with you. It really helps me a lot, even though I made a lot of mistakes which I learnt a lot but it helped me to overcome my stubbornness and adversaries. It has helped me to develop the skills to advice anybody found in such situation because there is nothing that person is doing I haven’t experience before.
KP: Where did you school? KSJ: (he hesitated…), we were taught at home….

KP: That is unique, was it Papa’s policy for you people to be taught at home?

KSJ: That was the reason why I became commercial pilot at the age of 19…! When I had my pilot license and completed everything to become a commercial pilot I was then 19 years. This is because the kind of training or our upbringings (by this I am not implying that others didn’t go through such training), was unique but comparing us with some of our colleagues at school especially what I in particular went through you can see that the differences are clear and big. There are a lot of things some of our colleagues indulged in but we were not allowed to do those things until we entered the University before we socialize and made friends but since childhood we were not allowed to get involved until our High schools we were taught at home even though I had the benefit of enrolling at the ST. Andrews JHS like you said before I was stubborn and truancy until I went to further my education at London before pursuing my piloting training at Florida at Daytona Beach Phoenix Eastaviation.

KP: Then Papa might have spent a lot on you…..

KSJ: Eiii! The training alone cost him us about $100,000 then…comparing it to the current exchange rate you will know what I am driving at.

KP: It is alleged that because you people were taught at home, you were not able to bond or socialize with other children. Do you have friends?

KSJ: I t wasn’t true. We have friends; we bond very very fine, so if somebody tells you we don’t bond is never true. My sister is in parliament and she is doing very well. She has bonded well with her colleagues in parliament, we bond very well just that we are not easily influence by our peers or bad company or pressure. We have a tight skin and don’t bow to pressure just like that.

KP: What really run through the family, the kids? Is there one particular thing that runs through you that show reminiscent from Papa that runs through the family which you have not changed from?

KSJ: Detemination! Determination and very hard heart. We’re very strong minded, all of us. It is not easy to convince any of us to do something cynical or untoward, unless you pull the old man from the roof top of the storey to achieve your target. This is what has bonded us.

KP: So you all do things together as a one big family?

KSJ: we are all grownups and working but we meet on Sabbath days to attend church after which we meet and discuss issues and socialize. Other times too we organize a family reunion with a well organized party. (….interruption by Kojo Preko; I was at your younger sister’s party, the one at Central University it wasn’t easy, you were seen dancing all over you like dancing?), eiii…it is Kantaka who has organized such a huge party what else do you expect? In our family we like dancing, I am even the least.

Source: Adomonline.com

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NDC fights US Embassy over Twitter comment to Prez. Mahama

AN EXPLOSIVE Diplomatic row is brewing between the embassy of the United States of America (USA) in Accra and Ghana as some activists of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) are calling for sanctions against the Ambassador and staff of the embassy.

Key among the angry activists are Ras Mubarak, acting National Coordinator of the National Youth Authority and Dela Coffie, a member of the NDC communication team, who has asked the Foreign Minister, Hannah Tetteh, to summon the US Ambassador, Gene A. Cretz, to the Flagstaff House to render unqualified apologies to “the President and the people of Ghana.”

This follows a twitter message from the US Embassy rubbishing President John Dramani Mahama’s tweeted message imploring Ghanaians to sacrifice in the face of the dire economic problems dogging the country.

From his twitter account, @ JDMahama, the President wrote: “As a people, we have had to make sacrifices. I wish to assure you that the results of these sacrifices would begin to show very soon.”
But in a sharp cynical response, the US Embassy’s twitter handle-@ USEmbassy Ghana, countered: “@JDMahama and what sacrifices are you making?
Don’t tell me that pay cut.”

The response was referring to the much criticized decision by the John Dramani administration early this year that it was going to cut the salaries of the President down to ministers by 10% to exhibit the sacrifices that the executive had to take in a bid to douse financial challenges facing the government.

The suggestion was widely derided by the public who referred the government to other huge unconventional sources of funds that its officials benefit from, aside their salaries.

The twitter debacle has attracted intense rage from government officials and some members of the public who think the US government was unnecessarily interfering in the internal affairs of the country and are demanding ‘unconditional’ apologies from the embassy. jm “The tweets [from the US Embassy] were very unfortunate,” Ras Mubarak fumed.
A few hours after the controversial tweets, the US Embassy issued another tweet, trying to explain the situation: “Our staff mixed a personal handle with the embassy’s. We apologize for the errant tweet,” it stated.

But the apology has attracted more angst from the NDC which claims it was too ‘light’. Ras Mubarak and his colleagues are demanding the embassy to sack the said staff and give evidence of having sanctioned the errant staff. “Apology or no apology, the Foreign Minister should, as a matter of urgency, summon the US ambassador and register her protest in the strongest terms over this clear attack and insult on our presidency. “It matters not whether it was the US embassy staff who mixed a personal twitter handle with the embassy’s own.

This is a major diplomatic gaffe. “And if this were to be a serious democracy, the US ambassador should by no be explaining why this attack on the presidency of a sovereign nation should not lead to his expulsion from the country. “We are not a serious nation. Are we?” Dela Coffie, a member of the NDC communication team wrote on his facebook wall.

But the embassy has issued another tweet, emphasising that it had communicated its apologies to the office of the President,“We’ve communicated our apology to the office of the President and are taking steps to prevent a recurrence.”

It is unclear how the simmering diplomatic row will pan out as the Ghanaian government has not issued any statement on the issue as at press time.

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