The ability to grab a hold of your on-air audience and have them latch onto your every word is the domain of few radio presenters. Witty, inspirational and with a voice to match, Hope FM’s Yafesi Musoke knows all about that. 

A name almost synonymous with Christian radio, Yafesi’s efforts are felt not only on the station programming, but also on their creative and often very interesting commercials.

Off-air, this host of the breakfast show Activate is a simple man who finds fun in being inventive, and as with all really creative minds, is a self-confessed introvert. For his listeners, the latter bit may be a tad difficult to believe, given his outgoing radio persona. This, he says, is actually one of the main challenges he faces as a presenter. He explains:

The humor, though, is certainly ingrained – a characteristic he says he picks from his family, and builds by his desire to amuse. It is also just one of his multifarious collections of talents and abilities. Yafesi recalls that while growing up, he realized he had a penchant for creative arts. Learning how to play instruments, music and drama came to him naturally. So did writing and creating scripts and stories.

When he didn’t make the cut for the ‘acceptable’ medicine course that he’d been set to take, the next option was Daystar University, where he enrolled for a marketing course. It is said that Daystar is where you go to unlock your creative potential, and this was certainly true for him. In his first year, he took over a fledging drama club and turned it around, and was soon writing plays and directing musicals for the school.

It was after a screening of a musical he’d written, Raindrops, in 2003, that Hope FM invited him on board as a script writer. Shortly after, it just happened that he was around, and available, when then Route 104 presenter David Makuyu needed a sit-in for a month. Yafesi took the opportunity and did such a good job of it, he was a shoo-in for the show.

He’s been at it four years, both on air and off-air as part of the station’s creative team, and has since moved to hosting its flagship show, Activate. Along the way, he’s learnt and perfected radio production, earned himself an adoring fan-base and gotten married to TV star Joyce Musoke – his number one fan, he says (Read Joyce's profile HERE). It is true, he adds, that he who finds a wife finds a very good thing.

Being a radio presenter hasn’t been all a bed of roses though. From difficult days to unctuous stalkers, Yafesi has had his share of interesting moments. Arguably one of the biggest challenges has been listeners’ response to his style of presenting, especially at the beginning.

In one interesting incident, a popular segment of Route 104, ”Word Power”, had to be scrapped after a congregant complained that it was ‘confusing’ to students. Notwithstanding, he would go ahead to define the show, and when he switched to Activate, the positive response was overwhelming. Yet the move posed its own set of challenges. Starting as it does at 6 am – Yafesi mockingly protests that he’s never been a morning person.

The affable presenter points out that every difficulty he’s faced has only served to remind him that it’s never about him.

Even with his success as a radio presenter, Yafesi Musoke’s real love for entertainment goes much further than that. He has a passion to undertake production of world-class local entertainment content, especially for theatre. He says, of this:

He’ll get there. Meanwhile, he has brought unconventional creativity to radio, and it is working like magic!

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