Aside her presence in the media space and passion for journalism, Joy News’ Irene Emefa Apawu has lived a life full of surprises; some pleasant, some a little frustrating.
Taking her turn on Adom TV’s M’ashyase3 show, Ms. Apawu unveiled some interesting details of her life, from her childhood to her present state as a proud mother of two; a girl and boy.
Emefa hails from Anfoega Akukorme in the Volta Region and is the daughter of Gladys Esi Tecku and the late Moses Kodzo Apawu.
Born in Accra, she had to go to the boarding house at St Johns Preparatory School at age 5 due to the business schedule of his dad.
She continued at St. Anthony’s School, South Odorkor and proceeded to Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) Girls’ Secondary School in Ho, where she pursued General Science .
Despite her journalistic prowess which she exhibited from childhood, Emefa had to pursue General Science against her will but to satisfy the desires of her dad who admired nurses.
That, however, did not dash her hopes of becoming the journalist she was passionate about.
In 2003, Emefa had the opportunity to work at Radio Gold as a production assistant after she was discovered by James Agyenim Boateng.
She later worked at XFM, Radio XYZ and she was once a morning show host at Class FM.
Now, she is a voice many people love to listen to on radio and TV.
Emefa is the host of the midday news and News night on Joy 99.7 FM and also the host of “The Probe” on JOYNEWS.
“Just when my career took off and my name was making waves, I lost my dad, but he enjoyed a bit of the moment because he received several calls from people telling him about how they enjoy listening to me.
“His death in 2007 was a big blow because I was pregnant with my daughter and my dad was the support system throughout those moments,” she recounted.
Though many may say Emefa is currently leaving her dream, that did not stop her from climbing higher on the educational ladder.
Emefa obtained her first degree in Management at Central University and a master’s degree in Development Communication at the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
She later pursued her second postgraduate degree programme in Defense and International Politics as well as a certificate course in conflict resolution and crisis management, both at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College.
This, according to her, was to equip her for the job as the head of the Joy newsroom security desk.
In 2021, Emefa Apawu was declared the media excellence honoree at the Africa media honours and earlier in 2020 at the 25th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) awards, she was awarded for her exceptional COVID-19 reporting.
Aside that, she has been honoured by several institutions for her exceptional journalistic work.
Watch the video above for the full story:
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