"Journey to Success" - Interview Series - Conrad Kakraba
Begleiten Sie Beatrice Ama Boatemaa Asante auf einer inspirierenden Reise mit Persönlichkeiten, die in ihrem Leben ihre Träume verwirklicht haben. Diese Interviews sollen die Jugend motivieren, dass man mit Entschlossenheit und Durchhaltevermögen jedes Hindernis überwinden und seine Ziele erreichen kann.
Join Beatrice Ama Boatemaa Asante as she takes you on an inspiring journey with personalities who have achieved their dreams in life. These interviews aim to motivate the youth that with determination and perseverance, one can overcome any obstacle to reach their goals.
Original-Interview mit Conrad Kakraba in Englisch
Beatrice: Who is Conrad Kakraba?
Conrad: I am a 38-year old man from Santrokofi-Gbodome in the Oti Region of Ghana. I am a Broadcast Journalist, Media Executive, Lecturer, Minister of the Gospel and Personal Development Coach.
Beatrice: What makes you who you are?
Conrad: My vision, passion and mission define me. My vision is to live my life fully in line with the purpose God gave me. My passion is to serve humanity. My mission is based on the definition of success by John C. Maxwell “Success is discovering your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefit others.”
Beatrice: How did you start life?
Conrad: I had a good start in life, thanks to my late dear father, Adolphus Atu-Dagadu, who was a teacher in Basic School who understood the importance of education as the most powerful weapon to change the world; and my awesome mum, Comfort Dagadu, a petty trader who gave her all to establish me. I was pushed to give of my best in everything I did and to love people and serve community.
Beatrice: Where did you school and what did you learn?
Conrad: I began Primary School in Baglo in the them Volta Region, finished Junior High School in my hometown Santrokofi-Gbodome and Senior High School in St. Mary’s Seminary Sec. School, now in Oti Region. I studied General Arts and undertook exploits in debating, writing competitions among others for my Senior High School. I learnt how to write well, speak in public, relate with people and develop myself and my innate potentials through these stages of education. I later studied English, Linguistics and History at the University of Ghana from 2004-2008 and graduated with a first class honours, at the top of my class of English majors. I undertook my National Service at the Department of English, University of Ghana. My Master’s was in Journalism and Mass Communication at Sikkim Manipal University, India (at the Ghana campus) and my Ph.D. is ongoing -Open University of Malaysia (through Accra Institute of Technology). I am studying Business Administration (Communication and Media Management) for the Doctorate.
Beatrice: As a young man, what have been your challenges in life and living it?
Conrad: By God’s grace I have had a good life free of teething challenges. But I will sum the most pressing in 3 Cs:
1. Confusion over life’s purpose
I was not very certain about what I wanted to do in life and so I had to try a lot of things to finally find myself. I had to sit in Science class in High School for one year before knowing it was not meant for me and had to repeat myself to get into the General Arts where I found my purpose.
2. Consistency in actions
Due to my sanguine personality, I have not been very consistent in following through what I start. That has made me a bit behind what I could have achieved.
3. Consideration of every need
I have an inordinate desire to help everyone who I find to be in need. This has not been all that helpful although many have benefitted from my help. I have learnt in the process that you can’t solve all problems for all people. And so I have decided to limit that quest to focus on those I can handle.
Beatrice: How did you discover your passion for journalism/ Media?
Conrad: I began writing in primary school and later Senior High School in Junior Graphic debates and national essay writing competitions. One of my High School teachers Rev. Fr. Isaac Benuyena identified mytalent early and helped me put together all my writings into what became my first book-Conquering your World-Principles for Overcoming and Shinning wherever you are (2010). I really wanted to be someone great. And so at university, I applied to Radio Univers and I had an opportunity for internship on Open Air Theatre where I had my first chance of speaking into a radio microphone. It was a glorious feeling. Then later I saw an advert on GTV about recruitment of newscasters. I applied and was lucky I hadthe offer.
Beatrice: What has been your greatest challenge in the media World.
Conrad: The unrewarded talent is glaring. Many are those working but with nothing to show for it. It’s therefore easy to cut corners in the media and be influenced by the people being covered. This is not supposed to be the case. To be truly independent, there must be good reward for the work the media personnel do. The industry is tough and therefore there is so much competition. We have to find a lasting way to get around this problem especially through donor funding agencies etc.Beatrice: Which personality did you find tough to interview?and why?
Conrad: The most obvious was the former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Ms. Gloria Akufo. This was during Ghana’s Election 2012 Petition Hearing at the Supreme Court. I was the only journalist allowed access into the Chief Justice Court room to conduct live interviews on TV for all other media houses to broadcast. Ms. Akufo was a very good person to interview in the most part of the Petition Hearing but on one bad day, I had an unpleasant experience with her. There was a lot of tension at the Court because some evidence being tendered in by her team was rejected by the bench and it was really hard for the team to accept the verdict. She was therefore very livid when I approached her for an interview as I usually did after the court sitting every day. She turned down the interview by brushing her hand on live TV which was very embarrassing and rude. Everyone turned the heat on her in the media that day and she had to apologize to me on live TV the following day.
Beatrice: What holds your life together?
Conrad:
1. Purpose – God’s will for my life is so strong on me. The mission to be a powerful influence in this world dawns on me daily and energizes me. Thus, the family he has given me, my workplace and colleagues, the church where I minister and the society where I have my sphere of influence are all things that keep the purpose alive in me and make my life worth living.
Beatrice: What is your ultimate goal in life?
Conrad: To use all the great talents, skills and opportunities that God has brought my way to serve God and humanity and to leave this world empty of all that I have in me.
Beatrice: What advice do you have for the young people in developing their potentials, sharpening their focus and impacting society?
Conrad: I would quote Jesus on the Greatest Commandments:”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39) When there is this understanding of what is essential in life, it’s easy to define our focus. Young persons should therefore recognize this and do all they can to find what God has sent them to earth to accomplish by reading the Bible and applying it to their lives, by looking at their personalities and talents they have, developing them through education and then making their services available to others.
Beatrice: Last but not least, your Vision(Dream) for mother Africa and her children.
Conrad: My Dream for Africa is this:
1. Spiritual Freedom – I believe many Africans are very religious and that is good but we need to be truly spiritually-grounded in the ways of the Greatest Man who ever walked the face of the earth – Jesus. We have lost touch with the real Jesus and have created our own pseudo-religions (false ways to God). This has led to great enslavement that needs emancipation through teaching the truth. I have started in my own way to open the eyes of many young people.
2. Educational Development – Nelson Mandela says “Education is the greatest weapon to change the world.” I believe we need to invest in education to advance the continent. I am doing the small I can to invest in educating others and let others see this as the way to go through my mentorship programs and TV shows.
3. Economic Progress – When I see the toils of many people daily, I see we are a very hard-working people but there is nothing much to show for all our toil. Either it is dissipated through corruption or some other means. But we can change the narrative when we have a committed group of leaders who can change the status-quo (a Latin word for “in the mess we are). John C. Maxwell says,” Everything rises and falls on leadership.” I have committed to training young people to develop their leadership skills and expose them to entrepreneurial opportunities to make this happen.
