KOD Recalls Selling Music Cassettes for Osei Kwame Despite During His Teenage Years
Kofi Okyere Darko, popularly known as KOD and currently serving as the Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Presidency, has shared an inspiring personal story about his early connection with Ghanaian business mogul, Dr. Osei Kwame Despite.
Speaking in an interview with blogger Ghhyper at the grand opening of the Despite Auto Museum in East Legon on June 1, 2025, KOD revealed that he once worked for Osei Kwame Despite during his teenage years by selling music CDs and cassettes. According to him, this job served as his entry point into the music and entertainment industry.
When I was a teenager I used to sell cassette and I worked from Lumba’s shop and I worked for Despite. That was my secondary school job. My introduction to the music industry and everything this is part of the story, KOD shared.
He explained that his bond with the Despite Group founder started from those early days and has remained strong over the years. The experience of working in the music retail business while still in secondary school helped lay the foundation for his future career in the entertainment space.
KOD, who has since become a well-respected figure in media and politics also disclosed that he was once considered to be among the first set of personalities to join Peace FM one of Ghana’s most popular radio stations owned by Despite Media. However his existing role at Radio Gold at the time prevented him from joining the station at its inception.
When Peace FM was being established, I was one of the quiet voices that was going to start but I was working at Radio Gold so I couldn’t show my face, he noted.
KOD’s reflections serve as a powerful reminder that humble beginnings can lead to great accomplishments, and that early experiences often shape the course of one’s future.
The grand opening of the Despite Auto Museum was attended by several dignitaries celebrities, and friends of the Despite Media CEO and served as a platform to celebrate the legacy and influence of Dr. Osei Kwame Despite in Ghana’s business and media landscape.