My ‘Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey’ moments

Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey was in many ways a friend, senior brother and political mentor. I met Jake somewhere in 1994 when he was then the Managing Director of Lintas. I am not certain of what brought us together the first time but we became good friends.

Later he became Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and pulled me further into his political life. He nicknamed me “Young Edward” and anytime I was in Ghana, he would invite me to his house to participate in some kind of event whether political or social.

In the year 2000 when NPP won the general election, Jake was full of hope and optimism. Finally the tradition that he belonged to and for which his father had died had the chance to govern and lead the country. I had the great fortune of being with him and President Kufuor when then Vice-President, John Atta Mills, called to concede.

He packed about 10 of us who were with him into his green BMW. I remember him turning to me as I was squashed on his front seat and saying “Young Edward, it is time to resign from CNN (where I was then working). Come back home for us to build our nation together.” He had big dreams for our country. Despite not accepting his offer to work in the political space at the time, we went on to work and collaborate on some projects together. He was always a STAR and delight to work with!

Projects

Among these projects included getting Ghana to join the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Jake was in South Africa on a visit and decided to come and listen to a speech I was giving during the initial ground work for NEPAD. During question time, he so much impressed that the then Executive Director of NEPAD questioned why Ghana was not on the list of seven countries. Needless to say, Ghana was included there and then. He went further to get his President, J. A. Kufuor, to agree to become the first-ever African President to be peer reviewed by his contemporaries.

We worked with Discovery Channel on “The Presidential Tour of Ghana” which was nominated for an EMMY Award. Most importantly, Martyn Mensah and I worked with Jake to start the first-ever presidential debate in Ghana, which has now become a phenomenon in Ghana politics. I recall Jake gently tapping the then Candidate Kufuor on the shoulder and saying: “The idea will be good for our politics. Let us do it.” Several of his campaign colleagues were not sure it was a good thing to subject their candidate to a debate at the time.

Memories

One of my lasting memories of Jake was when I visited Ghana with Senator Paul Simon and Bill Frist in 2000. We were staying at the then “Five Star Labadi Beach Hotel”. Jake told us not to eat breakfast when we visited him but join him the next morning in his house for breakfast instead. When we arrived at his house, I didn’t see any breakfast laid out. When I asked, he took me to his garden and there was Hausa koko laid out on a table and a lady frying koose. My heart sank. Surprisingly, the senators enjoyed it so much Mr Simon asked Jake for the recipe of the meal and some koose to take back. Jake turned to me and said, “I have not disappointed, have I?”

Another “Jake moment”, was when he invited the President of Discovery Channel, the crew that worked with us on the Presidential Tour to his beach resort at Kokrobite. We arrived there to a bare beach with children playing football. Jake had put up some makeshift thatch and palm fronds structure. When I asked him where the resort was, he pointed to the thatch and palm fronds structure. He took out a dictionary and asked me to point to where I would find a resort defined as a nice luxurious building.

The man loved reading and always had a dictionary at hand. The entire crew of Discovery Channel and Global Media Alliance (GMA) could not stop laughing at our banter. Needless to say, he won. Together with Auntie Esther, he provided us a nice time that day and that was his focus. Another “Jake moment.”

Almost nine years after, some of the people who came to that famous resort party reminisce about it.

That was Jake!!!

Jake Otanka, We will miss you. But you have played your part.