God told me this is not the end of it… - Maame Dokono

One of Ghana’s greatest TV personalities, Grace Omaboe, popularly known as Maame Dokono, has confirmed her return to the showbiz industry, years after she went silent. The celebrated movie veteran was a special guest on The One Show on Viasat1, where she made some revelation about her past, her present and her plans for the future.

Earlier this month, Maame Dokono was inducted into the first Radio and Television Personality Awards Hall of Fame for her contribution towards the radio and television industry in Ghana.

Humbled by the honour, Maame Dokono told Anita Erskine that when she was sinking and everybody did not hear from her again, this came at the right time. She added that she has received several awards, including Order of the Volta award given her by former President Kufuor. However, she is very discreet about the awards, and hardly talks about them.

Maame Dokono said she is now grown and physically weak as compared to when she was very popular on TV, but she is also spiritually grown now. “…Things that I saw formally and would make so much noise about, I will now sit down and use my wisdom….and pray about them,” she added.

The former talk show host stressed that she used to be vibrant and would attack whoever did something wrong or go to court or even find money to help victims. “I think it affected me a lot because I was doing about six to seven programmes and work at the same time.” She said her doctor later warned her to slow down otherwise she was going to drop dead.

The former ‘Obra’ star said it was her wish to own a studio operated by only women. She bought her cameras, lights, and other equipments to start, but her plans were halted by a court case against her. She said it was a difficult time for her and she was broken down emotionally. “I said to myself ‘why must it be so?’…and about three, four years later, God told me this is not the end of it….’you’ve got to get up again,’ so I am now going to get up again.”

Maame Dokono said she hopes with the help of God, and then her being focused and with the help of others and TV stations like Viasat1, she’ll be able to get up again. “That has always been my aim,” she added.

Maame Dokono also disclosed her desire to revive the lost African folktales and Ananse stories on TV. She presented ‘By the Fireside’, a children’s storytelling programme that made waves from the early to late-90s. She also played a vital role in Ghanaian Akan drama series ‘Obra’ in the 80s and 90s. She was known to be very outspoken and difficult in the roles she played. Maame Dokono later began a talk show on Choice FM that addressed social issues primarily on women and children and then also started a similar project on TV. Things however fell out of place when she took a political stance and was hit with a court case.

Moving on, Maame Dokono stressed that nothing can break her anymore, and she is now stronger than ever. She says she sometimes sits down and reflects on all that she has been through, and would still want to do it all over again. Maame Dokono confirmed she is back in the showbiz industry again, and has featured in three international movies “with white men behind the camera,” and has three more scripts on the table. She said she has had a number of producers contacting her to start some programmes, which she is considering…as well as starting her own production.