One radio show in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast, is telling it like it is to its politicians. Well, almost...
Abidjan - It's the show that's got everything: sing-along signature tune, catchy jingle set to the melody of Jackie Wilson's I Feel Good, a fast-talking on-the-ball presenter/producer, a live phone-in slot and a cast of the country's best-liked comedians. Welcome to L'Afterwork, live on Ivorian airwaves, every working day between 6 and 8pm.
Eighteen months ago, Abidjan's leading commercial radio station, Radio Nostalgie, decided to try out something new in a slot that had fallen vacant after another program had been pulled. "The idea behind L'Afterwork,' recalls Jean Jacques Varold, the producer and presenter of the show, "was to make light of all those politicians who made our lives so difficult here."
"So you are returning the favour?" I ask.
"The vapour, more like," he retorts, before he lets rip. Peals of laughter have become a frequent occurrence in and around the Nostalgie studio. Varold continues: "Here's what we do: we make fun of our leaders for a change, until we get a phone call from the Palace that says: time to stop. But frankly, I can't see that happening."
Imitating presidents, past and present, is the hallmark of the show. The Ivorian leader Alassane Ouattara plus his predecessors Laurent Gbagbo and Henri Konan Bédié come into the mix, as do the neighbours, including Guinea's turbulent former chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and Burkina Faso's long reigning regional meddler and mediator Blaise Compaoré. They discuss current affairs, crack jokes, launch well-timed one-liners and enjoy themselves hugely as they go along.
Serious jokers
Pulling this off, live on air, every working day without boring your audience requires talented performers. Luckily, L'Afterwork has got those. Yao Patrick, better known as Chuken Pat, has been with the show from the beginning. A veteran of the scene, with a series of one man shows to his name, he plays guitar and keyboards, sings, tells stories and impersonates numerous famous and ordinary Ivorians. "I work for the social and cultural services of the Ivorian Armed Forces. My role has always been to put soldiers at ease, especially when they come from the front." It is a timely reminder that this show was born in the wake of a terrifying political crisis that very nearly plunged the country into civil war. The conflict killed 3,000 people. Chuken Pat does not want to hear about taking sides. "I serve an institution."
The first to be in the show, Chuken Pat is still the uncontested leader of the group. Others came in later, like Ton Ton Joe who actually works for the national electricity utility but also plays guitar and breaks out in ballads, the words of which may be Yoruba. He does the Nigerian president: "Good evening ladies and djantra [trans: prostitutes]," which is yet another word play.
To complete the team, two full-time comedians of different generations have also joined: the seasoned storyteller Koloko Germain (Henri Konan Bédié on the show) and Mala Adamo, who has burst on the scene with his hilarious impersonations of French speakers with Sahelian accents: Blaise Compaoré and Mahamadou Issoufou (president of Niger) are in safe hands here. He does a very good job of pitching the Burkinabé leader's well-known vocal inflexions: they go up a full octave at the end of a sentence.
"We have known each other for a long time and we are aware of the talents that each and everyone brings to the program. So integrating all that into one production was a question of fine-tuning" says Koloko. Adamo adds: "doing a good imitation is a lot of work. You have to follow your subject. Blaise, for instance, speaks perfectly good French but he has a Burkinabe accent. You need time to get that right."
Koloko explains "I follow my subject on television, because obviously we don't meet every day. I watch the videos: the way he speaks when he addresses an audience but also when he is with just a few people. I observe. And then I do try-outs. When I have a new voice I call up my friends and ask them: who do you think this is? If they get it right, it means I have succeeded."
Speaking of success, L'Afterwork has recently achieved the impossible: pushing Radio France International from the top spot on radio prime time. "Well yes, modesty apart, we get many phone calls from people who tell us it's the best program they have ever heard," confesses Chuken Pat. "It allows our leaders to see themselves as the people see them. They don't have the time to go into the bars and restaurants and find out what people think of them. We do that. So when they listen to us they reflect: "Ah - so that's how people see us?" And that is a good thing.
Poking fun across the continent
Humour has a long pedigree in the Ivory Coast but this is satire Ivorians have never heard before. Varold is excited about the new direction. "This show opens up possibilities in all of Africa. Not just for radio but also television." In fact, the language barrier probably prevents him from knowing that there is indeed an Afterwork On Television - in Kenya. The XYZ Show is the brainchild of the celebrated cartoonist Gado, who motivates his choices of targets in a similar way as the makers of the Ivorian show.
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So if you are a politician in Africa these days, you'd better get used to being lampooned. Adamo reflects: "We can pass messages that others cannot. Our force is that we manage to do this without causing upsets." Chuken Pat adds: "I'm saying something about the state of the society in which we live by painting a caricature of its leaders." But are there limits? Yes, there are. "We can make caricatures out of our leaders but we must also respect them. We must be subtle. After all, we have gone through difficult times and what we do also serves to advance the peace we now have."
Bram Posthumus is an independent press and radio journalist with more than 20 years of experience living and working in West and Southern Africa. Alternating between Dakar and Amsterdam, he reports on political, cultural and economic events for a variety of radio, print and internet media. His book on the history and politics of Guinea will be published shortly by Hurst & Co.
