Sports On The Airwaves At Ho – Part 1

FM radio broadcasting has brought in its way variety and sports programming has been a major component of the programme mix of radio stations across Ghana. Sports programming in the Volta Region in general, comes mainly in two languages, English and Ewe with isolated cases of Twi slots on a few stations outside Ho. This piece, the first in the series, looks at sports programming on the various networks in the Ho municipality.

Sports on Volta Star Radio

Before I even talk about the current state of sports programming on GBC’s Volta Star Radio (the guys who are about to ‘extort’ money from us in the name of TV license fee), l will like to pay glowing tribute to one individual, Togbe Kwadzo Akwensi, who started it all as far as sports presentation in Ewe is concerned in this region. The veteran broadcaster deserves a loud round of applause from all who adore quality and competence in broadcasting for his good works over the years.

The legendary Kametete Stool he founded and occupied for a long period of time was the reference point for sports discussions in this region and the very popular Monday night edition was the dominant sports highlights show in this region for many years until it was shifted to Saturday afternoon. For my money, this legend is our own version of Kwabena Yeboah, and on a day like this, l can only congratulate him for being the trailblazer for the young ones and ultimately making VSR Sports a force to reckon with in the region.

Along the line, Fireman Eastmond Dogbenu (hope l got the name right) came to help Togbe in analysing sports news from around the world. The Ewe Sports team at Volta Star Radio even got better when Godwin Gomado (G3) joined them. Under the expert tutelage of Togbe Kwadzo Akwensi, these two individuals have blossomed into dominant personalities in the arena of sports presenting in Ewe in the Volta Region and this reinforced VSR Sports team‘s position as the one to beat currently in the market when talking about sports news delivery in our mother tongue.

Now that Togbe seems to have taken a back seat (maybe, on his way to retirement) on the sports shows on Volta Star Radio, it is clear those who would take over VSR Sports in Ewe should Togbe Kwadzo Akwensi go on retirement one day. Such a great transitional arrangement they have in place because l am sure the good old broadcaster will be blushing with pride in retirement (of course with a cup of tea or a calabash of Hausa koko in hand) as he listens to his ‘mentees’ carry on with a brand he toiled to build.

All said and done, it wouldn’t be too bad if the top brass at Volta Star Radio add a few more slots to the current number allocated to the Ewe Sports team on the network. A daily update is not too much to ask for in this day and age when some of your competitors are having as much as three shows in a day to help their listeners catch up with the continuous flow of sports news from across the globe.

On the flip side is the VSR Sports in English hosted currently by Eric Eli Adzie (Adjivic) and Tilda Elinam Acorlor (obviously, an adulterated version of a popular Ewe name, Akorlor). Before Adjivic took over the mantle as the host of VSR Sports in English, the show ‘suffered’ in the hands of one hell of a presenter, Nana Osei Bonsu, who failed – and l mean failed terribly – to impress as far as eloquent presentation on 21^st century radio was concerned (sorry ooooo but that’s my opinion). Those were the days my FM radio dial was automatically tuned to VP FM anytime l wanted to listen to sports news in English.

The timely intervention of Eric Adzie (who also doubles as the PRO of RFA currently) rescued the sinking soul of VSR Sports in English and made it a credible contender in this very competitive segment of the radio market in Ho. The young man’s penchant for promoting sporting personalities of Volta origin is also worth mentioning here. At least, l have heard him talked about a certain Wilson Akakpo of Egyptian club Al Masry, a number of times. That‘s all that it takes to get our home-grown footballers in to the various national teams. That has been the game plan of most sports journalists in Accra and Kumasi. Kudos, buddy!!!!!!!!

Now that the dust has settled on those turbulent days of VSR Sports in English the station is set to keep a firm grip on its share of the market with G3 and Fireman manning the Ewe section with all the arsenal at their disposal (including the soon to be collected TV license fees) and Adjivic and the very eloquent Tilda, holding the forte for VSR in the English section. My only reservation is the number of slots the English sports on VSR has on the network currently. A few additions will not be bad.

Volta Star Radio, ede ewe, de blu. Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!

Writer’s contact: 020 7398103/0245 871 875