Boateng Konduah Acheampong is a visually impaired musician, an African multi-instrumentalist, the leader of Gonje and the CEO of Bakarbri Audio Lab which teaches people (especially the visually impaired) to play African musical instruments from Atemteben, Bara phone, Xylophone and many others.

Touching on his life and music in an interview with Myjoyonline.com, Boateng Kondua said he was born blind at Dua-Mpompor between Konongo and Ejisu in the Ashanti Region and he has been doing music for the past 22 years. He started exploring African musical instruments when he left Wenchi Secondary School in 1985 after his form five education.

Boateng said he was not happy when he noticed that the number of people playing African music which has been a childhood dream were diminishing at a faster rate, he therefore decided to explore and impact the knowledge into people who are ready to learn.

His vision of writing music in brail was impossible during his school days and therefore had to find his own ways and means to write music for the Pan African Orchestra of which he was a member. He got the opportunity to also explore more African music at the Pan African Orchestra.

“The challenge is still there, to be able to still write music and let other people have copies so that we can all play music together that is a challenge for blind people in Ghana and all over the world. I think people are overcoming it but it is still a challenge and also people don’t take blind people serious when they are doing African music,” he said.

He bemoaned the notion that the visually impaired are generally beggars,“[we have to] raise ourselves from the slumber, people think that all that blind people can do is to go onto the streets and beg,”

“Blind people are not really beggars, we are to be professionals and Chief Executives of our own lives and I am trying to prove to people that blind people are not just as we see them in the streets begging but we can do more than that,” he said.

“With adequate support training and support, financially, morally and spiritually, we can also be where we are supposed to be and we can also benefit the nation,” he added.

Gonje

His group, Gonje made up of

eight members, six composers and two learners was formed in 2004 and they have two albums; ‘Bolgatanga’ released in August 2005 and ‘Ekome’, released in Nov 2009. The current album, ‘Ekome’ has 12 tracks; ‘Funtum’, ‘Gbedora’, ‘Ekome’, ‘Me Kae wo’, ‘Mboguo’, ‘Agbemenya’, ‘Zabre’ and others.

Boateng Konduah Acheampong who is sometimes a soloist described modern forms of music – hip hop and hip life – and African traditional music as parallel, without any treats to each other.

“There is no challenge here, Hip hop and hip life is going on hip life and hip hoping. Gonje’s music being the music for the people and uniting the people is keeping on uniting the people and putting people together all the time.”

He said their doors are always opened for hip life and hip hop artistes who want African rhythms in their songs and that Gonje does not discriminat when it comes to music.
Mr Magnet as he is sometimes called said the visually impaired should be given the opportunity to also prove their worth and people must also fulfil their promise to them.

“We really need exposure and patronage of our stuffs. People should give us jobs to do and when they make promises, they have to fulfil the promises. A minister cannot come and promise Boateng Konduah Acheampong and refuse to do what he is supposed to do that is totally wrong and we don’t expect that,” he said.

He urged the youth and upcoming musicians to try as much as possible to learn some African instruments and also learn how to write music.

“They must also learn the business aspect of music so that they don’t get cheated for their works,” he advised.

Story by Aglanu Dela Ernest/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana