Kofi Okyere-Darko, KOD, has recalled the days he believed in and supported then presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

“That was in 2008. The platform that launched Nana’s campaign, that was called Believe in Ghana,” he said. “I was one of the orchestrators of the platform.”

It all started, when KOD “got a call from my great friend and brother Gabby Otchere-Darko,” who informed him Nana Akufo-Addo was going to run for office and “the platform he wants to use is the creative arts”. Later, “I had a conversation with Nana himself, His Excellency,” KOD added.

The media and fashion icon underlined Nana Akufo-Addo’s “history of having a certain relationship with the creative arts: back in his days in university, he was an events organiser, he’s a showboy, he had relationships with people like [Afrobeats icon] Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti – Fela would come to Ghana and hang out with Akufo-Addo; when Hugh Masekela died, I think, Nana Akufo-Addo was the only president that showed up at his funeral because he had that relationship with him”.

KOD intimated he was amazed at all these and thought Nana Akufo-Addo “understands the orange economy, the creative arts, and for what he told me he’d do once he got into office,” so he rallied support for the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer.

Another reason he supported Akufo-Addo was “at the time, we hadn’t seen so much, in terms of support from the government, for the creative arts industry” and he thought Akufo-Addo’s government would be different.

For the campaign, KOD said, wherever they went, they would “have a show, musical performances, that took place 2 to 3 hours before the campaign or rally itself – we had [artistes like] Kwabena Kwabena, Wutah, A-Plus, Christiana Love – Obaapa Christy as she calls herself now – Nacee, [etc. on stage] and some not-so-known [acts]”.

“Everyone wants to go out and listen to music, so once they’re out, that platform was used to communicate to the people,” the Nineteen57 founder explained, noting, however, “It didn’t work [Akufo-Addo didn’t win the election].”

KOD said that was the end of his support for Akufo-Addo.

“After 2008, I took a backseat. After the Believe in Ghana project, that was it for me,” he said.

His reason was “not because the project failed” but “I went through something”.

“Some of my colleagues at Radio Gold where I worked – [since] like a year after the station’s inception – were not too happy with me: ‘Kofi, you’ve always been with us and you went to support Nana Akufo-Addo’. So they proposed to kick me out. If it [Akufo-Addo’s campaign] had succeeded, I probably wouldn’t have gone back to Radio Gold so [the question was:] ‘Why come back?’” he recalled.

He said the only reason he did not lose his job was because “my boss and mentor Mr [Kwasi Sainti] Baffoe-Bonnie” intervened, arguing KOD “is not malicious person” and was not seen using abusive language in his campaign for Akufo-Addo.

Again, “the great Prof Mills – His Excellency – also, said, ‘Kofi’s my son’. So if he’s supported one of the candidates – this man’s great heart tells him that: There were two great people running for the office of the land, and I chose one side. It’s okay if I didn’t support him.

“That’s what changed it for me. His [Prof Mills] heart,” KOD emphasised, explaining his permanent shift from supporting the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Currently, Kofi Okyere-Darko is an outspoken critic of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who has ruled Ghana since 2016. KOD is also a newly appointed Creative Arts Spokesperson for the NDC’s 2024 campaign to return John Dramani Mahama to the seat of power.

As Ghana goes to the polls on December 7, KOD, who has noted losing friends since coming out to declare his affections for the John Mahama-led NDC, observed, “we’ve come a long way,” to a place where individuals can publicly declare their political beliefs with consequences minimal to yesteryears.

“If you look back, I was not as vocal, and visible as I am now,” he remarked.

John Dramani Mahama became president after the late Prof John Evans Atta Mills.