"I am sad" - Sakyi Addo declares as he wraps up Front Page on Joy FM

The host of Joy FM's longest running talk programme, Front Page, today said goodbye to listeners of the programme.

Kwaku Sakyi Addo anchored the last episode of the show and ended it all saying “I am sad.”

As a journalist who has interviewed several personalities around the world, always asking probing questions, Kwaku hosted the show with enormous verve and enthusiasm always headed to the best show wrap-ups that left no questions unanswered.

The Front Page began in July 6, 1995 as a midday programme but later changed into a late morning show.

During the last edition of the show, Dr Lloyd Amoah, a young lecturer at Ashesi University in Accra, asked him several questions bothering on the broadcaster's life.

“This is the last day, what are your sentiments, deep down” was the question and Kwaku simply said “I am sad,” although there were no signs of sadness written on his face.

Perhaps his “sadness” was borne out of the thought of closing the curtain down on a programme that has remained a top brand in the country.

For Kwaku, who began his career in 1984, the last edition of the programme – like those that have aired over the last one year – was good as long as it featured “fresh voices” you've never heard before.

Head mentality
Kwaku has, over the last few years, tried to “de-emphasize the politics” the media has been fixated with, he said, adding the country needs more of such moves.

Responding to why political issues continue to dominate in the media, Kwaku simply said “I think we have a head mentality; I think we've got to learn to head in the opposite direction of where the crowd is running to. And if all the sheep are heading southwards, head northwards; that's how to be different, and that's how to make things work, to push the boundaries.”

Mr Sakyi Addo's smart interviewing skills have come from observing his mother, wife and friends.

Again, “I think there is a second part of communication that people tend to forget. That's the listening part and in order to ask sensible questions you've got to listen to answers.

But as the award-winning programme wraps up, Kwaku will continue to host the News File, another talk show which airs on Saturdays.

Kwaku is a Communications specialist and two-time Journalist of the Year in Ghana, and one of Africa's best broadcasters. He began his career in 1984.

Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana