I had to stay with about 10 stepmothers while growing up – Fredima

Fred Kyei Mensah, a sound engineer, has spoken candidly about how his parents’ divorce saddened him and almost had a negative impact on his education.

Following his parents’ divorce, Fredima, as he is affectionately called, said he had to live with roughly 10 different stepmothers.

In an interview with Adom TV’s M’ashyase3, Fredima recalled how his divorce took place the day before his O’ level exams at Prempeh College.

But he didn’t say whether his father had relationships with any of those ladies or if they were just mistresses.

“I had my JSS education at Royal International School between 1973 and 1979/80. I continued at Prempeh College and studied science because I wanted to go to medical school.

“But the painful thing was that my parents divorced on the day I was writing O’ level and it affected me a lot. It didn’t help me in any way,” he told Afia Amankwa Tamakloe.

The acclaimed sound engineer claimed that his aunt gave him the opportunity to move to Accra despite the challenging circumstances.

This, according to him, came with a promise to pay for his medical school tuition, but things changed when his sponsor—the husband of his aunty—asked about the costs.

“It was expensive, so I had to work for some time to save money. I was able to get a job as a filling station manager, and later, my aunty’s husband secured me a job at Ghana Airways where he worked.

“Through that, I got an opportunity to school abroad to become a pilot. I sat for the entrance exams at Legon and excelled, all set for my trip, but just a day before, Rawlings, as part of the coup, cancelled the programme so it couldn’t happen,” he narrated.

Despite the ups and downs, Fredima expressed his gratitude to God for bringing him thus far in life.

Despite not realizing his dream of becoming a doctor, he said he is grateful that God has used music, which has been a pastime of his since childhood, to bless, affect lives, and generate cash.