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Budding comedians must have tough skin – Abdul Waris Omaru

Critics say Ghanaian comedians are not witty enough and it is not a ‘career’ worth pursuing if anybody intends to make ends meet.

Others hold the view that some of the performers only repeat common jokes or even end up stirring controversies. Few of  them have, in the past, ‘taken bullets’ for jokes people considered offensive. 

But that is not all. The onset of the novel corona virus has also led to somewhat ‘poor visibility’ of stage comedy shows especially in the capital city, Accra, as it was previously not the case.

In spite of this, there are still some individuals who have yet not thrown in the towel on the craft but continue to find alternative ways of lighting up the mood of their fans.

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One of them is Abdul Waris Omaru, who goes by the stage name ‘Comedian Waris.’ He has gained some attention on social media and other public spaces as he continues to thrill fans who find gratification in laughing out loud.

When The Spectator caught up with him recently, he said that he did not have plans of joining the industry but eventually found himself on stage through an audition in 2016.

According to him, he took up comedy because it gave him “quick money” compared to his previous job as a producer at Top FM, an Accra-based radio station.

The former student of Odorgono Senior High School, touching on his life and experience, said he worked at a spare parts company, a cement and concrete factory, and served also in other capacities as a security man, after completing school.

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He later on took up a multimedia course and had internship at some radio stations before deciding to embark on his new journey.

“I was working as a Sound Engineer and Producer at Top FM in Accra. I auditioned at one of DKB’s comedy shows and I subsequently had some coaching from him and other actors in the industry who are still coaching me,” he said.

Asked about how much income he earned, the comedian, born in Kumasi Aboabo in the Ashanti Region, explained that his standard of living had been improving since he started comedy.

“I work with time so when I perform every five minutes, I earn GH¢ 1,500.00. When I was a sound engineer I was paid GH¢ 300.00 at the end of the month.

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To further prove that he was, indeed, ‘making money’, he stressed: “when I was a sound engineer I was using a ‘yam phone’. Now, I use an iPhone.”

Waris, also a content creator, said that he had been featured in a movie titled ‘Akwaaba’ with popular comedian Clemento Suarez.

Apart from stage comedy, he again works with some companies as an ‘influencer’ to attract clients and help increase patronage of goods and services of those entities.

He admitted not doing any stage comedy in the past five months but continues to post short comedy skits regularly on Instagram.

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Contrary to popular views, he insisted that comedy is worth pursuing, provided the “actor branded himself or herself very well.”

“Everything you want to do pays but it depends on how you package yourself. I think I am doing it to my optimum best and I am making money although I am not yet at the top.

“It is better than working and waiting several months before you are paid,” he stated sarcastically.

Waris said “the sky remains the limit,” as he is considered among some of the top comedians in country.  He posts new funny videos frequently on his channel and interacts with fans to push his brand.

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“I get good feedback from my audience and it is getting better. A lot of people started ahead of me. I started four years ago and if I am counted among the top 10 comedians I think it is a good signal,” he added.

Comedian Waris came under fire about two years ago from making comments about musician Sakordie’s little daughter, which sections of the public considered inappropriate. But he was quick to apologise and retract the unfortunate comments he made, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

He advised that budding comedians must have a tough skin, develop creative concepts to attract audience and go “a little crazy on stage.”

“I hope more people would embrace comedy, and when everything is set, I am sure we will derive the outmost benefit from our shows.”

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“They (comedians) must know that jokes alone do not pay the bills but they should keep pushing,” he said.

Warris said he was on the verge of establishing a foundation to mentor young people and help them attain their goals in life through their talent.

He did not disclose his relationship status but said he had a “lot of girls” who admired him and indicated that he would soon settle down “with the one his heart decides.”

By Ernest Nutsugah

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Mrs Fuseini shares story of her journey to the top as 2024 Best Teacher

Oustanding teacher in Ghana

Oustanding teacher in Ghana

Growing up, Mrs Fuseina Fusei­ni’s greatest ambition was to become a lawyer.

Her reason for that determination was simple – to ‘fight’ for the vulner­able in society and be an advocate against early marriage in her commu­nity.

• Mrs Fuseini doing
what she loves best
• Mrs Fuseini doing what she loves best

Though, she did not realise that childhood dream to become a lawyer due to financial difficulties, her pas­sion and desire for teaching over the years was given a very good though – and it paid off.

For her close followers, her biggest career honour chalked recently in the teaching industry came as little surprise.

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• Celebrating AU day with children
• Celebrating AU day with children

Mrs Fuseini was recently adjudged the first female kindergarten teacher to win the highest national honour for teachers.

She received that recognition at a forum at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi last weekend for her consistency, dedi­cation, hard work and innovation in teaching and learning.

For her prize, Mrs Fuseini received a three-bedroom house and a scholar­ship to study abroad if she so desires, with funding from the Ghana Educa­tion Trust Fund (GETFund).

The 47 year-old Kindergarten (KG) teacher at the Madina SDA Basic School in the Greater Accra Region with over a decade experience in the teaching profession shares her jour­ney with The Spectator.

Mrs Fuseini grew up in a community where teachers were respected and valued.

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This influenced her decision to ven­ture into teaching.

But that passion for teaching aside, Mrs Fuseini also realised that teaching can offer a similar platform to work as an advocate for the underprivi­leged and the marginalised in the society.

“Gone were the days, teachers commanded some sort of respect; they were seen to be disciplined. They were seen as mentors in the community. They were very influen­tial.”

“I realised teaching was also a form of advocacy to share ideas. Most of my family members were teachers and that even made it easy for me to go into the profession,” she ex­plained.

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Education

After completing Senior High School (SHS) at the Saint Monica’s School of Education at Asante Mampong in the Ashanti region, she furthered her education at the University of Educa­tion (Winneba) where she studied for diploma in Basic Education.

“Teaching Kindergaten for the past 15 years gives me so much joy. I have a feeling it’s my calling be­cause I teach children with ease and vibe with the children so easily,” she stated.

With her experience at the kin­dergarten level, Mrs Fuseini is in a better position to clear a few miscon­ceptions at that early stage of child education.

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She is aware of a few of these misconceptions, one of which is the school of thought that Kin­dergarten class or school is all about uniformed kids eat­ing and sleeping.

In her view, that stage of a child’s education or upbringing is very cru­cial and urged both teach­ers and parents to pay atten­tion to the little ones at that stage.

Explain­ing the educational curriculum used in teaching, Mrs Fuseini noted that three methods were employed in teaching the kids.

They are the differentiated, play-based and hands-on-learn methods.

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The differentiated method demands from the teach­er to allow the child to go about activities differently according to their strength.

In the play-based curriculum, the children are allowed to play and by so doing, it builds their creativity and supports their future aspiration.

Furthermore, she said children were sometimes grouped according to their abilities in the hands-on-learn method to explore with their hands.

Feeling

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Sharing how she felt when she was announced as winner of the presti­gious award – The Most Outstanding Teacher of the Year, she exclaimed: “I was full of joy and also proud of my achievement and immense contribu­tion to the country.

“This is history because this is the first time a kindergarten teacher has ever won such an award and I count myself blessed and lucky.”

She commended the initiative to reward dedicated teachers, saying the recognition was key to bring out the best in every teacher.

Mrs Fuseini believes that dedication to her profession has played a signif­icant role in her achieve­ments, adding that, “This is going to motivate and inspire so many teachers to do their best despite the stress associated with the teaching job.”

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“If I get the needed sup­port, I would want to do my PHD in teaching. I still want to focus on kinder­garten in order to rebrand the early child education sector”

Challenges

Infrastructure is one major challenge facing ed­ucation at this level. Some are the inadequate space that compel authorities to put too many children in a class.

This, she explained, makes too overwhelming and children some­times finds it difficult to pay atten­tion in class.

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She said despite the few gains chalked at the sector, they were limited sometimes in the area of resources due to the lack of logistics like puzzles, building blocks and com­puters to support the curriculum.

Teachers are described as a bridge upon which people use to get to their destination and therefore must not be neglected.

There is, therefore, the need to make provisions for them not only through finances but ensuring that they teach in a good environment.

Family

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She was born to Fuseina Salifu and Amina Fuseini in Ketekrachi in the Oti Region of Ghana.

She is the third child among eight siblings and married to Mr Zibrim Biosama and are blessed with three children.

When Mrs Fuseini is not in the class­room, she can watch movies all day.

She appealed to all teachers to show dedication to the profession and called on the government to support the teaching department with incen­tives.

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By Linda Abrefi Wadie

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News

Ransford Antwi, set to upset the apple-cart in Sunyani East

Mr Ransford Antwi

Mr Antwi

The race for the Sunyani East Constituency parliamentary seat has become keener and hotter following the decision by Mr Ransford Antwi, an Independent Candidate to join the race for the December gener­al election.

Mr Antwi, a Sunyani based business­man and philanthropist, has pledged to challenge the longstanding dom­inance of the ruling New Patriotic Par­ty (NPP) candidate in the forthcoming general election.

Antwi and wife

It has traditionally been a strong­hold of the NPP since 1996, however, Mr Antwi seem undeterred by NPP’s strength, vowing to upset the ap­ple-cart.

His reason for that belief is simple – the NPP and their candidate have failed to meet the developmental needs of the people.

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This, he believes is buttressed by the large army of the youth and some influential figures within the con­stituency and abroad throwing their weight behind his candidacy.

Mr Antwi in handshake with former president kuffour

Mr Antwi in handshake with former president kuffour

Mr Antwi says his candidacy pro­vides hope and progress for the community.

And it appears his campaign is going on smoothly with a section of the youth, especially the first time voters in the constituency have bought into his ideas.

In separate conversations with a number of them at a campaign activ­ity, they made it clear to The Spec­tator in an interview that they were relishing a change because it appears they have been taken for granted for a long time.

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Reputation

Mr Antwi with former president JJ Rawlings

Mr Antwi with former president JJ Rawlings

Mr Antwi is a royal from Sunyani with a strong reputation for honesty and integrity. His connection with the youth and readiness to help in various community activities have earned him significant support from the elector­ate.

He remains very confident in win­ning the seat in December following a recent survey from Infoanalytic which identified him as the favoured candi­date among the others.

“My decision to contest for the Sunyani East parliamentary seat is to reverse the downwards spiral of developmental needs in the constit­uency.

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My primary focus would be on de­velopment and job creation and equip a significant number of the youth with skills to enhance their employ­ability if am elected” he stated.

“When I declared my intention to contest, some people thought that I was just joking and that I would collect money from other contestants and abandon my dream, but I want to assure you that I am in it for the long haul.

Mr Antwi said he boast of a ‘solid’ team on the ground working hard to maintain the momentum and leave nothing to chance.

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He expressed concern that the Sunyani East constituency and the broader Sunyani area have diminished in stature due to the absence of sub­stantial developmental initiatives.

The deteriorating condition of Sunyani’s roads characterised by pot­holes, the neglected regional library and absence of a sports stadium for the constituency would be my prior­ity.

“The youth needs someone to provide them with leadership, offer them employable skills, hence the plan to establish a youth develop­ment centre where majority of them would be trained.

There would also be a dedi­cated office to receive the people and hold regular Town Hall meet­ings to share ideas from the people to help push forward to con­stituency’s devel­opment agenda.

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In all of these, financial support remain a biggest challenge faced by his campaign team because ev­erybody wants to wear his T-shirts and other para­phernalia.

“This comes as a huge cost,” he added.

Challenges

Coming into a contest like this also has a few chal­lenges which Mr Antwi is trying very hard to deal with.

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“Some of the people think that I am a rich person because I am a business­man. Others also think that once I am contesting for the election, I have a lot of money to spend and they must come for their share.

But that, according to him, was cer­tainly not the case.

“I’m working within my means. I have some little donations I received from some people who believe in this course to pull through.

Business

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Mr Antwi is the owner of Sun-city radio, one of the most popular radio stations in the region. He also owns a fleet of businesses.

Business aside, Mr Antwi is passion­ate about doing philanthropic work. Through his Sun-city outreach team, he has been able to liaise with some medical doctors to organised health screening for the aged to deal with health complications such as hernia, glaucoma and general health issues in the constituency and beyond.

As a football enthusiast and highly connected figure in football circles, the Sunyani East constituency par­liamentary aspirant said he used his influence to secure kit sponsorship for the senior national team in the past.

He was part of a team that hired the services of Ratomir Djokovic from Serbia who supervised Ghana’s qualification to its first World Cup in Germany in 2006.

He is a staunch supporter of BA United, Asante Kotoko and Manches­ter United of England.

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Education

Mr Antwi completed the St Patrick’s Middle School in 1987 and continued to Twene Amanfo Senior Technical High/Sunyani Senior High for his A Level Certificate and completed in 1993.

He had his National Service with the Bono Regional Hospital before proceeding to the Institute of Man­agement Studies in Kumasi where he obtained a Diploma in Business Management.

He later worked with MTN Ghana before venturing into private busi­ness.

Family

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He is the first born of children to the late Stephen Kwame Antwi and Madam Helena Dankwa.

Mr Antwi and his family at Manchester United stadium UK

Mr Antwi and his family at Manchester United stadium UK

Mr Antwi is married to Sufura Mo­hammed Suraj with whom they are blessed with four beautiful children – Emily Dankwa Antwi, Denise Antwi, Ransford Kofi Antwi and Zara Afia Kuruwaa Antwi.

His favourite meal is fufu with groundnut soup.

Mr&Mrs Antwi

Mr & Mrs Antwi

Advice

He advised the youth to stay fo­cused as they work towards realising their dreams.

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According to him, the future of this country rests in the arm of the youth so it was important for any govern­ment to formulate policies that would ensure their development.

Mr Antwi also encouraged the youth to shun acts that would plunge their various communities into chaos, espe­cially with elections approaching.

By Daniel Dzirasah, Sunyani

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