I was commissioned to write a book about Afua Asantewaa, but Kofi never told her

It was a fine warm day in January 2024. I met with the publisher and his team for a lunch meeting at Alisa Hotel. We discussed at length the possibility of a 300-page book on Afua Asantewaa. It was going to be a kind of biography.

It was at the peak of her popularity soon after she had completed her first attempt at getting into the Guinness World Records for the longest singing time. She was unsuccessful, but she became a household name. She was known all over Ghana, and around the world. She was talked about by the old and young.

Lawrence Darmani, one of Ghana’s most prolific award-winning authors, who is the Managing Editor of Step Publishers called me after he had read an article I wrote on Ghana in the Guinness World Records. He assigned me to write the book on Afua. He broached the idea for a 300-page book. With us at the meeting were the accountant of Step Publishers, Ben Morkle and another person, a lady I am not familiar with and whose name I don’t immediately recollect. But the meeting went well, and we all left feeling positive about the potential project.

When Afua started her attempt, there were claims that she was the first Ghanaian to attempt a Guinness World Record. I knew that wasn’t true, so I decided to write about Ghana in the Records. My article with the title “Ghana in the Guinness World Records: DNA sequencing first done on Ghanaian”, published on December 27, 2023 went viral. Darmani had also read the article and loved it. He felt I would be the best person to write the book on Afua. If there was anyone who knows me so well and is impressed with my writing skills, it is Darmani. And there is a good reason for that. He discovered me as a writer.

I took on the challenge and started psyching myself up for what I expected to be an enthralling journey of my writing career.

But before we could start the first words of the book, we needed to get Afua’s buy-in and consent. When I made inquiries, I was told her husband Kofi Aduonum was her manager, and I had to contact him. I quickly got his contact and placed a call. Apparently, Kofi knows me. He responded to the call using a familiar title most Ghanaian journalists call me “senior”. That gave me some assurance. That I would get positive feedback. But that never happened. For most of the time, he ghosted me.

Kofi started giving me excuses. First, he said they were going to Cote d’Ivoire for the 2023 African Cup of Nations tournament (AFCON 2023). So I had to wait till they returned. I waited patiently. Hoping that he would reach out on their return. But he didn’t. On February 2, 2024 I sent him a message on the messaging app WhatsApp. “Good morning Kofi, Hope all is well. Wondering if you have been back. We could arrange the meeting on the book project and set up dates for interviews. Thank you.” His response: “Good morning Chief, trust you good? Yes I am. Lovely day.” He said nothing about the meeting with the publishers. Then I wrote back. “Thank you. Do let me know when we can set up the meeting.” His reply: Ok sure. Will appreciate a reminder morrow. Thanks.” Then I wrote: “Sure. But if you let me know your availability, I could communicate with the publishers. Thank you.” “Ok, you will hear from me,” he said.

I waited and waited. I didn’t hear from him. Then on March 9, 2024, one month after, I sent him another message. I sent a long message letting him know that I needed to set up a meeting with the publishers, because they wanted to know if they (Kofi and Afua) would like to go ahead with the book project. He simply said I should hold on and he would get back to me. That was the last time we communicated on the messaging app. He never got back to me.

So when yesterday I read stories that he and Afua have separated and I got to read the reasons for the separation, something struck me. It was intuitive. I suspected that he never told Afua about the book project. But why?

So I decided to reach out to Afua. I got her new manager’s number. Usher 1Baby responded to my WhatsApp message and called back. He tells me, Afua didn’t know about the book project. Kofi never told her about it. That was how a book project died, before it was started.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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