The former Member of Parliament of Subin Constituency in the Ashanti region and former CEO of Ghana Cocoa Board, Isaac Osei was the distinguished guest on the latest edition of the most authoritative leadership show, Y Leaderboard Series.
Here, the renowned economist sought to inspire the Ghanaian youths by sharing interesting aspects of his life that would have otherwise being unheard of.
Hosted by YFM’s Rev. Erskine, Isaac Osei centered his conversation on the most inspiring moments of his childhood, schooling, career, family as well as some piece of advice for the youth.
Born to E.K. Osei and Eunice Osei, Isaac Osei shared that he was born in Kumasi, Asante Newtown, “which in the early days was the hotbed of political activities.” He spent his early years in Kumasi until in 1960, his dad brought him to Accra to attend the Achimota School as a boarding student.
Even after climbing the education ladder from Achimota School to the University of Ghana and finally to Williams College in the United States, Isaac Osei maintains that “Achimota School molded many of us to think broadly beyond academics.”
Speaking on family, Mr. Osei shared some principles he believes can strengthen family bonds and society. According to him, the principles of parental care and responsibility, as well as open lines of communication, can strengthen families in Ghana.
“The basic unit of every society is the family. If families break down our society will break down. Nobody has a moral compass to look up to growing up if parental care and responsibility is not there,” he stated. When it comes to politics, the former MP insisted that people should not view politics as a venture for accumulating wealth.
Relating his own experience with his family, he shared that the lines of communication have been clear such that he is able to discuss things with his children.
“We had many discussions and there were a lot of debates when my kids were growing up. I didn’t know three of them will be lawyers but now they are lawyers, I dare not even debate with them now that they are lawyers. The first four are married and live with their spouses. They always invite us to their homes. I am blessed.”
On his part, politics should be seen as a venture of service for the development and growth of the country. He thus cautioned that anyone who gets involved in politics with the view of accumulating wealth is “likely to fail or along the line likely to get into trouble.”
During his conversation with Rev. Erskine, he shared with the youths, valuable alternatives to starting a business with the absence of a capital.
“The first thing really is for you to educate yourself and then secondly you will have to work under somebody. You cannot start straight away and say that I am going to do business. Unless you have a brilliant idea which you can package and sell for somebody to raise a capital or for somebody to join you in a venture, it is going to be very difficult. You will have to go under some tutelage or mentorship and you can learn at the feet of others,” he shared.
Programmes Manager of YFM Accra, Eddy Blay, speaking on the interview with Hon. Isaac Osei noted: “We love to have these humble, selfless and passionate leaders like Hon. Isaac Osei on the Y Leaderboard Series.
I am sure everyone who listened will be impressed with how he expressed that as a politician, he is not enamored by the material gains that come with politics. Rather, his focus is to serve his people and the country. It was a really great interview today.”
