KOFI WAYO•Cigar, Sex & Lies
HE IS a maverick of a politician but definitely a fascinating character. He is always in
one controversy or the other and has flirted with almost all the political parties in the country.
CHARLES KOFI WAYO on separate occasions dared both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments to handover the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to him, promising to transform it into a gold mine in no time.
Popularly known as CHUCK, Kofi Wayo (KW), a strong critic of the current government, is fond of sticking a cigar between his thick lips and riding in luxurious cars.
He spoke to DAILY GUIDE (DG) about his family, perceived wealth, childhood, sex life, belief in God and why he smokes.
DG: Good morning, Sir.
KW: It must be good for you but without water how can it be good for me.
DG: You are quaffing a bottle of beer and still complaining?
KW: I have to drink some liquid you know so I choose to drink beer.
DG: That's a good life for you.
KW: Well I do not take government money. I earn my own money so I can afford to have a beer but the Minister who is taking people's money should not be having beer.
DG: Are you a family man?
KW: Yes, but they are grown and on their own now. I have two kids, the eldest is 21 years old and they are on their own in America. They were born there. I brought them here and when they saw the place they said they never want to see it again unless it is fixed up.
DG: Boys or girls and are they married?
KW: Beautiful girls. They are not married but they have boyfriends.
DG: Ghanaian boys?
KW: Damn no. I never had any Ghanaian friends. I did not socialize with Ghanaians. The only Ghanaian I knew was Mike Soussuodis but I did not even know he was a Ghanaian. We met in New York and I thought he was a Puerto Rican.
DG: So where is your wife right now?
KW: She is back in America and does not want to have anything to do with this place.
DG: What does she do for a living?
KW: She is a housewife. We are well-to-do you know.
DG: Are you saying you are a rich man?
KW: I am ok. Sometimes I am happy, sometimes I am not. But I am comfortable.
DG: How do you make your money?
KW: I sell arms. That is my job. It is a good business.
DG: What type of arms do you sell?
KW: I sell DCs, Kinetic Weapons, Jet Fighters, Military Tanks; I know the Arms business pretty good.
DG: Do you sell your arms to African governments?
KW: I have never sold arms in Africa. I know people lie that I had an arms deal in Congo and all that. All I did was that when the Blacks were fighting the whites, I sneaked in some live arms for them against the Rhodesian forces and I regret it now. We were told not to sell arms to African leaders because they use it to kill their own people. I sell my arms in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and so on. I have 30% of my business in the Middle East.
DG: How did you get into the arms business?
KW: I grew up in the United States Army and I was a Barracks Boy that was how it started.
DG: You were in the US Army? How did you get there?
KW: I did not get into it. It was my father. The American guy who adopted me was a military man so I was raised around the US Army barracks.
DG: Why were you adopted?
KW: My dad was with the West African Frontiers Force and was fighting in Burma, when he met the guy who adopted me and they became friends. When he returned from Burma, the guy at times came down to visit our family. My dad got involved in the anti Nkrumah thing and was slapped with some jail sentence of some sort.
It happened that the guy who adopted me came to visit us during that time and also visited my father in jail. They agreed that I should be taken out of the country.
DG: Where were you staying by then?
KW: Nima (in Accra) because we had run away from our village for political reasons.
DG: Which village was that?
KW: Kofi Pare, about 15 miles from Asamankese. That was where I come from.
DG: Are you not an Adangme?
KW: Yes but I was born at Kofi Pare and that is my home. My father was born in Dawhenya and my mother was born in Dodowa and that is their hometown but I was not born there. I do not care where my father comes from; that is his problem.
DG: Do you have siblings?
KW: Yes. There were 10 of us. Two are dead so we have six boys and two girls left. I am the oldest because they were all born after I had left. My dad came out of jail and decided to do capacity building so he pumped out nine more children.
DG: How was childhood like for you?
KW: I grew up in Nima and I remember I used to sell bread, banana, peanuts and iced water. We were very poor because my dad was in jail and we had no money. We were always scared and my mother was also scared because she had to protect us.
DG: When were you born?
KW: I do not know when I was born. It must have been after the Second World War. It was about 10, 12 or 13 years after the war.
DG: So when do you celebrate your birthday?
KW: I do not and it does not matter to me anymore. Everyday to me is my birthday; I am blessed.
DG: So how do you fill your forms?
KW: I was born in a primitive society and you want to hold that against me? When they gave me a passport they wrote in it that I was born in 1955 because my dad said I was born around that time.
DG: Do you take care of your mum?
KW: I take good care of my mum. I honour her because she brought me into this world and educated me. She is my life and stays with me in East Legon.
DG: Kofi, you are always complaining. Do you not get high blood pressure?
KW: No, my pressure is always low because God knows I am telling the truth.
DG: Do you believe in God?
KW: How can you ask me that? I live God, I eat God, I talk God, I sleep God, I walk God.
DG: What do you know about God?
KW: To me, He is a spiritual presence and I as a human being was created by Him and I owe Him a lot of thanks to make sure that my fellow human beings do not suffer unnecessarily.
DG: What is your religious affiliation?
KW: I am not religious; I am spiritual because religion is made by men and it can be corrupted. But I am spiritual and deal directly with my creator.
DG: How do you deal with your creator?
KW: I take the best from the Moslem and Christian philosophies.
DG: You go to church?
KW: No, I don't. I did that when I was a kid in the States but I don't any more.
DG: You go to the mosque?
KW: No.
DG: You go to the shrine?
KW: What shrine? I pray because God is everywhere and I kneel down by my bed and communicate with my creator.
DG: How do you refer to this your creator?
KW: I call Him Creator that is all.
DG: Where are your flashy cars; are you now broke?
KW: This is why God does not bless the Black Man. You have no water to drink and you are asking about flashy cars. University students are shitting in the bush and the press is worried about my cars. They are in my house. Why should I be riding in these cars when my people have no water?
DG: When you were riding in them the people still had no water.
KW: I did not ride in them. It was my brother, George, you were seeing in the cowboy's hat. I rode in the Rolls Royce about just twice; the rest was my brother.
DG: Wow! Are you twins?
KW: Everybody thinks my brother is me because Ghanaians do not know me. He wears the cowboy hats and puffs a cigar and I sit in taxis and use 'trotro'. I have now educated my brother to stop using my cars for show while our people suffer. I do not believe in show.
DG: Why do you smoke and what do you smoke?
KW: You have a baby face and ask such questions? My dad smokes and I use to watch him and took it from him. I like cigars. I smoke big cigars.
DG: What is a big cigar?
KW: An American or a Cuban cigar.
DG: You smoke Cuban cigars?
KW: Yes, I do not like Fidel Castro but I like his cigars.
DG: Are they expensive?
KW: It depends on where you buy them, 60 Pounds or $100.
DG: You spend that much money on cigars?
KW: Look boy, I work 24 hours a day to get money to smoke, do you dig that?
DG: Why do you smoke?
KW: I get energy from my cigar. It keeps me awake.
DG: You hop from one party to the other. Are you a political prostitute?
KW: It is only a fool that does not change his mind. I joined the people and found out that they are a bunch of crooks and I left them because God would punish me if I become a crook. I knelt down on my knees and prayed to God and I left them.
DG: Do you have a social life?
KW: Why would I enjoy life when my people are suffering?
DG: You do not hang out for a drink?
KW: No.
DG: How long has your wife been away?
KW: Which one do you mean, my former wife or my current one?
DG: Do you have more than one wife?
KW: I had two wives. I divorced one and made a mistake of marrying another one. I should not have done that. I married a white woman called Tmmy.
DG: And how long has Tmmy been away from you?
KW: For four years.
DG: And since then you have not had sex?
KW: No. In our culture, people believe in drinking, dancing and having sex. I fear God and I believe sex is not for fun. Why would I go to have sex with a strange woman I do not know?
DG: So you do not have sex?
KW: Well I do not want to fornicate but I like sex. I did it when I was a younger man but no more.
DG: You cook your food and wash your clothes?
KW: For three million cedis a month, I can get a damn good cook.
DG: Would you accept an appointment from this government?
KW: I won't take it because God would punish me if I associate with them; you know they are crooks.
DG: How much are you worth?
KW: It is between me and my bankers and my tax man.
DG: How should Ghanaians remember you?
KW: I am not dead yet.
DG: It is been nice talking to you.
KW: Cut the bullshit out there!
By Halifax Ansah-Addo