MNET FACE OF AFRICA 2008 – KATE!

I remember Kate Tachie Menson as the slim tall science student who became an entertainment prefect in final year. This was at Labone Secondary School. I very well remember her shy demeanor, yet on stage, this demeanor simply got lost. She could dance well!


She was nicknamed 69, or rather 68. I am not sure of the figure but one referred to her and the other was her brother's nickname. The brother was our senior and gees was he not tall! His nickname was an exaggeration of his height. Kate has the height, hence, the name which was drawn from her brother’s own.

Labone Secondary School is a missed high school, the only one in an expensive neighborhood in all of Ghana (wink). Sharing a wall with the school on one hand is Celsbridge, one of the most popular joints in Accra. Try their grilled chicken and rice and I bet, you will become a disciple. (This joint is owned by Mrs Cecilia Aggrey Mensah, a one time headmistress of Labone Secondary School. Please, this is not to say that Celsbridge is part of our indoctrination)

In the 2002/2003 academic year, Mrs Aggrey Mensah was the head and Kate was one of the entertainment prefects. I am really trying to remember more but my memory only gets as far as the shy girl standing either in front of her class or walking with her friends. There was a sort of rumor that her father wanted her to be a beauty queen. Well considering her beauty and height, daddy sure knew what he wanted for Kate.

I do not exactly remember her taking part in any modeling at school, if there ever was one. I do remember her dancing a lot at entertainment shows both at Labone and at other schools, especially Accra Academy. Oh I miss those times.

After school, much was not heard of Kate. I started seeing her modeling pictures in the weekly Mirror and a few other publications. I later saw her contesting in Top Model. She did not win that contest but she did not relent in her quest either. Later, I heard she had auditioned for one of the MNET Face of Africa contests. She was not picked after the audition, only for her to come back for the following year’s edition and be declared the ultimate winner.



As part of her price, she has strutted on the catwalks of fashion shows in South Africa, New York and other cities across the globe. She is on facebook as Kate Aba Tachie Menson. She has such a warm personality.

Kate, from the very moment I saw your photographs in newspapers, I became elated but not surprised. You may not have turned out as the beauty queen your father wanted, but you have turned out on the side of a model, an international one. He must be very content and happy.

Girl, believe in yourself. You have a lot of people secretly admiring you and am so sure you are a pillar of hope to a host of aspiring models.

Congratulations Kate. And in all your doing, never forget the one who has sustained your life till now. Be good.