Making a move from a career in marketing to full-time radio was daring and initially an unnerving thought to entertain, but it took a hunch and deep rooted interest for Kafui Dey to know radio was his home.
The engaging host of the Morning Starr on Starr 103.5FM has now got Ghana listening to him every morning, from 5am to 10am as he moderates exciting and informative topics and subjects.
Markets, corporate offices and almost all vehicles in the city have developed a strong preference to listening to the lifestyle twist he gives to everyday topics on politics, health, education, human rights, entertainment, religion and even relationship issues.
Despite being on the air waves for just seven months, Kafui Dey has now become notorious for luring listeners away from their regular morning radio shows and hosts, to listening to his captivating segments when he starts his five-hour radio sojourn each week day.
But this has not been an easy feat, he said.
“Well it’s a work in progress, there’s always the dream and working to catch up with the dream. So the standards that I’ve set for myself are so high and to say that I’ve achieved them right now, no, no way,” he stressed.
Before he started as Morning Starr host, Kafui Dey in an interview with StarrFMonline.com set a few targets for himself.
The witty host said he believed in his ability to become that “new voice” Ghanaians and the rest of the world would want to stick with each morning.
“I know I will bring my personality on, to make it all great,” he projected.
He was also optimistic he would have the ‘Komla Dumor Effect’ on his listeners.
“I am Kafui Dey and I am not looking at becoming him. He left big shoes to fill”, as far as morning shows in Ghana go, “but I loved Komla Dumor’s morning shows. He had a very unique blend of things he did to attract us all.”
“He liked asking questions; he was very original; he tried to make the show fresh; he was very confident and showed he wasn’t there to please anybody: he wasn’t afraid to take his stand. He was just spectacular.”
As far as setting standards for himself went, Dey had a lot more on his high bar.
The “Champ” hoped to apply the same standards of the CNN and the BBC to his show and programming.
“The shows are always cheerful and the presenters are funny, sharp and very knowledgeable, and that’s the kind of feel I’d like to say I have absorbed that I can bring to Starr103.5. I would want people to learn something new every quarter of an hour on my show.”
An ardent listener of the show agrees Dey has been able to achieve his dream of having an intriguing show so far.
“I listen to Kafui Dey every morning. He is the “Who Want To Be Rich Man” right? I have been following him for a long time and I think he is even better on radio than he is on TV. He is the one we listen to here at the shop. All these shops you see here. He asks very thought provoking questions and he is not boring at all. He is just exciting,” said Benjamin Kwame, a spare parts dealer at Accra’s biggest car parts dealers market, Abose Okai.
A media consultant, Francis Poku couldn’t have agreed more. “He is doing well. He has managed to grab a lot of people’s attention and I think he is getting up there on the bar. He is worth listening to if you ask me”.
But like all other great achievers, Dey is yet to be satisfied with his progress so far.
The “Starr morning voice” is determined to break records and redefine what people consume as “breakfast” on the radio.
“We are still working to it and the vision is still there to make the show as sticky as possible so people can get on and don’t want to go away.
“To stay on top of the issues. Every day the issues change and you must have all the angles. Everybody is looking at one particular story and you must now try and find out what the twist to the story would be,” he said.
Kafui, however said he enjoys “the fact that the day always turns out differently from the way you think it would”.
Among the many segments there are on the show, is the conversation on ‘family and relationships’ which Kafui enjoys most.
“I enjoy the family segment because it connects to people who don’t have any interest in current affairs or politics but everybody comes from a family and everybody has a relationship. It may not be a good one but it’s a relationship. So I probably would say if you push me to the wall, I would say I enjoy the Tuesday segment. But I like the way the show is structured but I can change because it’s a new show and news is always about freshness. But truly, I enjoy the show from all aspects.”
And Dey says he is ever ready and willing to help his growing listeners start their day right with the best breakfast they could desire.
This is serious publicity campaign for Kafui!