I don’t intend to fit in at Despite Group – Afia Pokua

When a big name in the media space such as Afia Pokua unexpectedly leaves the organisation she has been with for years for another, it is bound to generate a lot of talk. And that is just what her move from Multimedia to the Despite Group has done, it has been trending for the last two weeks or more.

Having been a face for Multimedia for so many years and now finding herself at Despite Group, which abounds with a lot of big names, the one question on the lips of many pundits is whether she will fit in.

However, in a chat with Graphic Showbiz on Tuesday, November 5, Afia Pokua, popularly known as Vim Lady, said she didn’t intend to fit in at Despite Group.

“I want to transition, I cannot be vim all the time, I can’t be loud all the time, in fact, I don’t intend to fit in so I have no expectations.

“I appreciate that there are big names at Despite Group and I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. I have learnt my lessons, I took Multimedia too close to my heart and I don’t want to do that again,” she stated.

Afia Pokua told this reporter that the decision to leave Multimedia was by far the most difficult decision she had ever made.

“That is one of the most difficult decisions I have made. I actually left to go to school in Canada but Despite came at the last minute. I was so attached to Multimedia that I felt it was my life, the air I breath and whether it was working or not, I virtually killed myself to make it work.”

“It was like being with a man and leaving him made you feel you couldn’t survive in his space. I was married to Multimedia so that is how difficult a decision it was for me to leave,” she said.

According to Afia Pokua, Despite Group started pursuing her about six to seven years ago so she had a relationship with them.

“I had had meetings with them and was in close contact with Fadda Dickson and Chairman General, Kwami Sefa Kayi has always been a supportive big brother so when I told him I wanted to go out to study, do my LLB and become a law lecturer,” he suggested I have a change of environment.

So after her 19 years stint with Multimedia, Afia Pokua finally ended up at Despite Group and she already seems to be doing well. She hosts Mmra No Se Sen on Fridays, read the news on Peace FM and presents Gyaso Gyaso, a political discussion programme on Okay FM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“On Gyaso Gyaso, we discuss current affairs, issues going into the 2020 elections and beyond the elections,” she said.

Afia Pokua’s schedule at Despite Group is quite flexible and it will give her more time to focus on her charity work which involves building schools in villages, as well as providing them with educational materials.

“I have built a school in the New Abirem District in the Eastern Region, I am working on providing 100 desks in Krachi and I am also putting up a school in Adansi,” she said.

Asked how she was able to fund all these projects, Afia said it was mainly from her own resources as well as support from family members and Facebook friends. “I am trying to expand it and trying to take it a notch higher,” she stated.

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