One of the most remarkable upsides of the Fourth Republican Constitution is the unfettered room given to the media and its practitioners to carry out their activities and contribute to the growth of the country.

Due to its recognition as the fourth estate of the realm, the Ghanaian media has, for the past thirty-one years, enjoyed some unprecedented freedom, albeit with pockets of attacks and persecution over the last three decades.

The liberalism of the Ghanaian media has witnessed the growth of not just the media institutions but media personalities as well, leading to the emergence of arguably the most powerful non-unionized group of journalists.

The group, a phalanx of powerful media practitioners, was christened Coffee Shop Mafia (CSM), which is suggestive of their strategic role in the country’s media landscape.

Their critics view them as a group who used to mass up at a coffee shop in Labone, Accra, to execute agendas against powerful people in the Ghanaian socio-political space, while their supporters view them as a group who engineered agendas that advanced the development of the country.

The Coffee Shop Mafia, which was birthed in the early 2000s includes reputable and some controversial members such as Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt, Kwami Sefa Kayi, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Dr. Randy Abbey, among others.

In his tribute to Dr. Randy Abbey, who was stepping down from his role as host of the Good Morning Ghana program on Metro TV, Gabby Otchere-Darko gave insight into the formation of the CSM and how it became a brotherhood of help and assistance to members.

“It was ABA Fuseini who called us the Coffee Shop Mafia. Randy was a key member. People like Kweku Baako, Egbert Fabille, Kwami Sefa Kayi, Kwaku Sakyi Addo, and others were part. Randy was very much a part of the group, so we all saw each other grow. Apart from those who had been married before, we attended each other's weddings and stuff. We even saw through some divorces."

What has become of the group?

While most prominent members of the group are still alive, they have evolved into other aspects of life, with Randy Abbey becoming the latest to exit the media profession and go into something else.

However, the likes of Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt, and Kwami Sefa Kayi remain active in the media space and continue to contribute to the growth of the Ghanaian media.



EK