Ghanaian dancehall gem Shatta Wale says he will not be campaigning against the Coronavirus pandemic for free.
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According to the dancehall artiste, the decision on the part of the government to involve celebrities in the fight against the pandemic is laudable but funds must be made available for the selected celebrities.
As the government fight against the pandemic, the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah was asked during a media briefing on the updates on the Coronavirus, whether the government will involve celebrities in the fight.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in his response, said, “We were thinking of having them as public education ambassadors or public education champions.”
“I later saw online stories that we have said we are going to use celebrity ambassadors and suggestions that we are going to pay some money. No, that is not happening,” he added.
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Speaking in an interview on 3FM, Shatta Wale lauded the government in their plans to engage celebrities in the fight against the pandemic but stated that they [celebrities] must be paid.
“I always say that it is good when the government wants to engage us into activities like this but all I also want to say is that they working and they are getting paid so if the government wants to engage me, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy,… Wendy Shay, they should know that there is something that needs to be done.
“We can’t come out and say we want to do it for free. I’m not part of their political party, I’m not part of their Parliament and whatever even though we are all government and ruling the country the way we have to rule the country. It’s best for them to even put some package down for we to know that because we have worked hard to get to this level that is why we’ve been associate ourselves with the people in power.”
“So doing it for free it will be very hard for somebody like me Shatta Wale,” he concluded.