Focus On Young African Acheivers---Richard Paa Kofi Botchwey

Richard Paa Kofi Botchwey, was born was born on the 30th of August, 1990 in Appiekrum a village in Bogoso in the Western part of Ghana. His father was a farmer as well as his mother a petty trader. When he was five years, his mother gave his siblings plenty food when they returned from school and he was given little because he stayed at home, he therefore decided to go to school all by himself since he had attained school going age in order to get plenty food as his siblings.

His parents passed away when he was still young so his grandmother had to bring them to Accra to further their education. He went to Chemu Senior High School but hasn't been to the university yet but he has done few professional courses in publishing and also a trained Forex trader.

In Class 4, he was selected as the class prefect and he pledged to make a difference in the school, he decided to speak English because Fanti was used by the teachers to teach. Although his friends discouraged him and mocked him, he never gave up. It was during his time the computerize school selection placement was introduced. His passion was to become a medical Doctor in future, so he studied very hard and had good grades but unfortunately, when the results came out he couldn't make it to the science class so was given General Arts.

He was discouraged because that wasn't his passion but didn't give up. He tried to persuade the headmistress and teachers to put him in the science class but they refused, so he went on with the general arts, and started his first book titled, the tales of an orphan and that was about 44 pages, so whiles in school he was writing.

Richard Paa Kofi Botchwey is a writer and has written books such as the tales of an orphan, my shoes don't break, and the thing in the soup. Aside writing he is a Forex trader, run an organization and also a public speaker. He became an orphan and was mocked by his peers in school and church but he proved to them that even if he is an orphan, he can make it in life by writing a book.

He said, “I decided to write a book, to prove to them that, the fact that I am an orphan doesn't mean I can't make it in life and if you lose your parents doesn't make you lose your world. You can be who you want to be if you believe, so that was the whole thing that inspired me. When I started writing, I wrote my first manuscript and submitted it to many publishing companies, in the US and UK although I tried Ghana first but it didn't work because in Ghana we don't appreciate writing”.

He submitted his first book to over 200 publishing companies and had 88 rejections. For nine years his book was not published but never gave up. Some publishing companies were willing to publish his book on the condition that he delete God in his writing which he refused because it was God's doing that has brought him this far. He then decided to turn his attention to his organization to help orphans like himself. Although he doesn't have an office, he does it at home and has the support of some of his friends.

He said, “If your friend has gone ahead of you, you must not be discouraged, just focus because, the prize is not for those who made if first or earlier but it is for those who focus and keep moving forward”. He started writing his book when he was 14 years, but started writing at the age of twelve.

He said, as Africans we need to believe in ourselves, we have to put into good use the things we have, we should stop relying on people. Because when you rely on people they will disappoint you. If we say we are democratic, it means that we should be able to make decisions on our own without confronting other countries, governments outside the continent.

Richard wants to be the best author, start his own hotel, restaurant, Forex bureau and build a home for orphans. His role models are Mr. Kofi Annan, Joel Oesten, Dr. Mensa Otabil and late Komla Dumor.

Despite his achievements, he also faced challenges. In SHS, he won lots of scholarships, but when his SSSCE results came out, he failed, although he passed the core subjects, he failed his elective subject which was due to him travelling all the way from Swedru to Tema to write his papers.

His advice to the youth was that, in everything they should not give up no matter what comes their way. Start small but think big. “I always see myself as an inspiration where ever I go, and failure is just a mirage” he concluded.

Akpah Prince
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