Ghanaian Journalist Halifax Ansah-Addo

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

EL: Awards Not My Focus

News One- April 18, 2012

Ghanaian rapper, singer and producer EL has expressed appreciation to his fans who voted for him in three categories at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs), but has urged them not to be perturbed that he did not win any award out of the three.

In an exclusive with NEWS-ONE, EL said though he appreciated the nominations, the priority of his music career was not to win awards but to satisfy his fans all over the world and do the type of music that would be accepted in Ghana and on the international music scene.

EL was nominated for the categories of Best Collaboration of the Year for the song ‘You Go Kill Me’ with Sarkodie, Best New Artiste of the Year and Best Rapper of the Year.

During the awards last Saturday, when TV and radio presenters Jeremy and Jay Foli were called to present the award for the Best New Artiste of the Year, the crowd started chanting EL’s name in anticipation that it would go to him: The room however went somewhat silent when the award went to Stay Jay.

NEWS-ONE asked EL how he felt about that particular category.

“That moment was the best feeling for me when I heard the crowd chanting my name. They were chanting my name because they expected me to win and I was happy that my works have been accepted. But I took it in good faith because it was not my award and they gave it to who they wanted to give it to.

“I am not surprised about the whole thing because I have a way of accepting things and putting them in the best perspective. If it is a sign that I have to work harder, then that is what I must do,” EL explained.

EL’s collaboration with Sarkodie, ‘You Go Kill Me’, emerged as the Most Popular Song of the year, yet that song did not win collaboration of the year. Though the song was produced by EL and he did the rap with Sarkodie, his name was conspicuously absent from that category.

Europe Tour, HHP & Caabo Snoop

The artiste confirmed to NEWS-ONE that he had a tour this May and that he would be performing in Germany, Amsterdam, London as well as Singapore. He revealed that very serious rehearsals were underway for the tour.

EL is currently collaborating with South African rap giant HHP and Angola’s Caabo Snoop.

“I produced a song for HHP and Samini and after the show, Samini called and brought Snoop on. We did a feel good song together and I am sure the whole of Africa would be happy about that production”.

VGMA Performance

EL, during his performance at the VGMA in the early hours of Sunday morning, left the audience when it seemed to be enjoying him most and he explained to NEWS-ONE what happened.

“I was asked to so a single song. That was what the organizers gave me but I managed to squeeze two songs within that limited time. If I had my way, I would have gone on until the audience got satisfied but it was not my show and there was nothing I could doo about it.

“The music I do, I do them for my fans. It is about them and I try to appeal to their hearts, minds and emotions as I entertain them. It has always been 90% concentration on my fans and just 10% for me. It’s all about them.”

Nkrumah’s Secret Son Pops Up

By Halifax Ansah-Addo
Published by DAILY GUIDE, April 5, 2012

A 55-year-old ‘unknown’ man has popped up in Accra claiming to be the biological but secret son, apparently the second born, of Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory.

The man, Dr. Onsy Anwar Nathan Nkrumah, said though many Ghanaians knew that the first President was married to Fathia and they had Gamel, Samia and Sekou, aside Prof Francis Nkrumah, he had remained the secret son of Nkrumah and that his mother is an Egyptian by name Isis Nashid who is now 80 and resides in Egypt.

It was a touching ceremony laced with tears when Dr. Onsy Nathan Nkrumah on Wednesday met with a delegation from the late President’s family after spending his entire life with his Egyptian mother.

The family delegation was led by Abusua Payin Nguah Kpanyile, the Head of Family and Madam Mary Margret Quansah, a direct niece of the late Dr. Nkrumah.

The family, who had travelled all the way from Nkroful in the Western Region to Accra just for the ceremony, presented the new Nkrumah with some personal items used by the late Kwame Nkrumah.

They gave the newfound son one of the favourite smocks worn by his late father as well as one of his walking sticks and a white handkerchief.

Dr. Nathan Nkrumah explained to DAILY GUIDE why very little or nothing was known about him since he was born on March 17, 1957- some 10 days after Ghana attained political independence.

“Because I really cherish my privacy, I did not want to share much but I guess in the last few years, I allowed some people to get to me and to know me. I have decided to now settle down in Ghana,” he noted.

Aside giving the mother’s name as Isis Nashid, Nathan revealed nothing about her love relationship with Ghana’s first President.

“That is not a talked about subject. It was a closed and confidential subject so that is the reason why I don’t go into that issue. People also can respect people’s wishes for privacy. In fact in London, I had a public relations consultancy just being retained to protect my privacy. I’ve done that for years so it cost me money and it is not by accident that I am a private person. It is by design and by intention,” he explained.

Nathan shed some light on what contributions he would be making to the development of Ghana: “I am really praying about this and that is number one. Number two, I was one of the founders of United Africa Organization back in 1981 and we have now created a branch in this country so we are launching that here as well as other NGO activities so far. But I am listening to God and God is confirming certain callings on me here so hopefully you would hear more.”

Abusua Payin Nguah Kpanyile and the family from Nkroful paid glowing tribute to Dr. Nathan Nkrumah for renovating their family house back at the village and providing them with electricity and modern amenities.

The Abusua Payin said the family had hitherto lived in abject poverty and in dilapidated structures until the emergence of Nathan who funded the renovation.

Miriam Sinare, a leading figure in the National Democratic Congress (NDC), whose father, Alhaji Sinare, literally married Fathia off to Kwame Nkrumah, was at the ceremony to testify that her parents had told her that the first President had a secret son in Egypt and that he would one day come to Ghana.

“When my mother saw him, she said ‘yes, this is the one I have been waiting for’. Nathan is a brother to me and let’s put politics aside. I have to stand by him. One day he would lead Ghana. There is more to this and my mother can tell you a lot about what actually happened,” Mariam noted.

Interestingly, none of Kwame Nkrumah’s other children were at the ceremony and DAILY GUIDE asked the newfound son why his siblings were missing.

“Well, you know that we’re from different mothers so we all somehow lead separate lives which is unfortunate, but that’s how it is… But we know ourselves, they know me, I know them. We relate by phone sometimes, e-mail with some of them like Gamel. I see him each time I pass through Egypt and I see him more than the other siblings,” he stated.

By all standards, it certainly is a good time for Ghanaian music star Elorm Adablah, popularly known as EL; his videos are making constant rotations on Channel O and he has bagged 3 nominations for this year’s Ghana Music Awards.
EL has been nominated for the Best New Artiste of the Year, the Best Rap Artiste of the Year and the Best Collaboration of the Year for his duet with Sarkodie titled ‘You Go Kill Me’.
As if that is not enough, NEWS-ONE has picked reports that EL is about to release a 20-track album- quite unprecedented for any Ghanaian musician.
EL is about to accomplish that feat courtesy his management company, BBnZ Live; a relatively new multi-purpose entertainment cum media company seated on the topmost floor of the Flore Heights Towers on the Ring Road Central in Accra.
NEWS-ONE (NO), out of sheer curiosity, decided to find out about this relatively new but enviable company called BBnZ Live. The paper spoke to two of the company’s four directors- Kwame Blay (KB) and Alvin Bekoe (AB).

NO: What does BBnZ actually stand for?

KB: BBnZ Live is an acronym. It is actually an abbreviation of the surnames names of all the directors of the company. So you have Bekoe, Blay and Zinney. There is actually a fourth partner, Michael Jaba and he brings the ‘Live’ bit. He is our UK partner and works with OH TV.

NO: Aside the studio works what else do you do?
KB: The studio is actually the smallest aspect of what BBnZ Live does. We are a complete marketing firm and we provide a range of media-related services including account management, media planning, indoor and outdoor events, commercial printing and visual marketing. We are also into creative media, advertising and we are a management agency. Aside that, we also do brand management. We have artistes, artists, sound engineers, music producers, clothing lines; we have about six different brands which we manage under BBnZ Live. Ian Isigo is a Nigerian clothing brand which we manage; Sons of Elizabeth is a Ghanaian clothing brand we manage; we have EL the musician.

AB: We also want to focus on improving the quality of entertainment in the country and this is one of our major priorities. We came up with all the concepts in EL’s videos and for real they are raising eyebrows on Channel O. We are also doing a lot of productions, as in actual shows, which we want people to come to.

KB: We have a show on TV now which is ‘Pamper Your Mum’, with Anita Erskine; we have a new show with Gzigbodi, the Allure lady and it’s called the ‘Gzigbodi Show’. We basically want to focus on Ghanaian entertainment but doing it at international standards to prove that despite the fact that this is Ghana and we started later than the Nigerians and the South Africans, we still have a lot to offer the music, entertainment and branding industry.

NO: How long have you been around?

KB: BBnZ is a new company. The directors are not new to each other but we incorporated the company last year and started operations in August 2011 as a full-fledged company. I believe we have gained a lot in a few months.

NO: You seem to have avoided the Ghanaian media

AB: Well that was strategic. We believe in letting our works speak for themselves. We want to be behind the scenes at least for the first year or two. So far, people call us and ask what exactly we do and when we tell them what we have done, they get surprised.

NO: Is artiste management lucrative in Ghana?

KB: If you are serious about it and you plan properly, it can be a very lucrative venture. I mean in any market, it is all about proper planning. Yes, Ghana is smaller than Nigeria, South Africa etc but at the end of the day, there are still shows that can be planned properly in this country. There are a lot of high schools in Ghana and there are times EL plays 30 shows per weekend.
AB: There is a fundamental issue with artiste management in Ghana. This is basically the image of the artiste. It is not just about walking into the studio, drop a track then off you go until there is a show. This is a full-time job so we would ensure the artiste gets the best image and this is about branding and when you brand your artiste properly, the right sponsorship deals would follow with the endorsement deals and mouthwatering deals. The two are inseparable. So we are careful of what our artistes wear and how they carry themselves; when they release a song and all the little little things that others miss.

NO: You mean to say you determine what your artiste wears?
KB: Yeah. The clothes, the shoes, the perfumes and everything just have to be right.
AB: We have a tailor-made modus operandi at BBnZ and when you go to our site for instance and we say we are about to go live, everyone knows it means we are about to drop a song. Both of EL’s videos were dropped on the net at 12 midnight for instance and yet people stayed awake in wait of them.

NO: What’s the future like?

KB: Well, the prospects are bright and we say we are about to go live. That’s the catch phrase. There are a couple of projects we are into now and we feel they would change the Ghanaian entertainment industry. We have 24 million plus Ghanaians wanting to be entertained so the options transcend just music. We are talking of a special type of monthly events for different target audiences.

NO: Is it worth having the most expensive studio in Ghana?

KB: We believe in working with the best to get the best. As to if it is worth it, we can say yes.
AB: This is not our first time dabbling in this. It is a tedious job and we want people to have value for their money. We have already had international stars in our studio. We have had Jesse from Chocolate Boys: He is the main producer for MI, Ice Prince and all those guys. We’ve had Omotola, Eddie Kaddie, and Eddie is already bringing a lot of big guys.
KB: We are about doing a movie with Eddie and that guy is big. Currently, he alone fills the O2 Arena and that’s no easy thing to do. We’ve already had a show with him last Christmas.

NO: Your final words

AB: We want to change the face of entertainment in this country and be a major entertainment force
KB: We want to build a big brand to compete on the international market. And we are bent on bringing the best of entertainment Ghana has ever seen.

Halifax Ansah-Addo: Jesse & Joel: Talented Twin Models

Why Prez Mills Hands Are Black

By Halifax Ansah-Addo
Daily Guide: Wednesday, December 8, 2010.

Specialist doctors attending to the health of President Atta Mills are reported to have expressed worry over his darkened palms which were caused by some medication they recommended to him.

A deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, has explained that the doctors did not know that the colour of the President's palms would transform as a result of the medication and they have expressed worry over the matter.

The President's palms, in recent times, have become black, heightening speculations about his state of health.

Though, Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa would not tell which medication the President has been put on and which ailment he was being treated for, he said the 'medication' was given to him by his doctors.

"I have seen it and when I inquired about it, he explained to me that he took a medication and he reacted that negatively.

"His doctor was quite worried but he told him it doesn't matter. Some people take some medication and the reaction worsens their cases and they are sometimes hospitalized, but this was quite a minimal reaction.

"The doctors did not know that he would react that way to the medication but what is important is that it has not affected his movements, body system and his thought process.He is presently in Abuja with his colleague heads of state discussing the Ivorian crisis and how there can be some lasting solution.Over the weekend, he was even at the Farmers' Day celebration so everything is going on well with him," Okudzeto-Ablakwa told Fiifi Banson, host of Peace FM's 'Ekwanso Brebre' on Peace Fm on Tuesday.

"The president is well, as he has always said it is the good Lord who grants us good health but he is very strong and stable.He has been given a clean bill of health by all the doctors who have looked at him and he is going about his normal duties.

"It will amaze you he still wakes up at 4:30am every day and he does exercise and he is a very fit man. I can assure you he is still the good sportsman we have always known.

'The president's palms are black because he reacted to some medication that he takes and if you talk to doctors, they will confirm to you that we all react in different forms depending on what medication you take.

"We can assure the good people of this country that there is nothing serious that is affecting the president, and it is just the little reaction which has even reduced compared to two weeks ago. Doctors have assured him that they didn't know he will react that way to the medication," he added.

The issue of the President's darkened palms has become topical in many circles and several speculations made about what might have caused it.

It was noticed during the visit of Equatorial Guinea's President's to Ghana a couple of months ago.

By Halifax Ansah-Addo

NDC Boss In Motorbikes Scandal

By Halifax Ansah-Addo

Daily Guide of Monday November 29, 2010.

The Daily Guide newspaper has discovered that the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) is allegedly releasing confiscated motorbikes and cars to some constituency chairmen of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for distribution to selected party members and foot-soldiers.

While one of such NDC chairmen is in trouble for having received six of such motorbikes but keep them as hispersonal property, Daily Guide has seen a couple of documents in which government has allegedly written to the CEPS Commissioner that some more motorbikes should be released for NDC party work.

The NDC Chairman for Dome Kwabenya constituency, Alhaji Abdul Basit Mohammed, who was recently given six of such motorbikes purposely for party work, is currently being chased by his party members after reports went round that he had sold all six bikes and pocketed the money.

When Daily Guide contacted Alhaji Basit Mohammed, he confessed that it was the Municipal Chief Executive of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, John Quao Sackey, who gave him a letter to be delivered to the CEPS Commissioner so six motorbikes would be released to him for party work.

Alhaji Basit explained however that he did not give the bikes to the party because he had imported some six motorbikes but they got sized by CEPS officials so the Municipal Chief Executive forged the said letter for him so he could use it to get back his seized bikes.
The chairman said it was the same imported bikes that were confiscated that were eventually released to him so there was no sense in releasing them to the party. He promised to provide some documents to show that indeed he had imported some six motorbikes but they got confiscated by CEPS officials.

The NDC chairman conceded that though the wording of the letter said the bikes were to be used for party work, that information as only put there by John Quao Sackey to help him clear his seized bikes.
The letter that was addressed to the CEPS Commissioner was written on the official letterhead to the Ga East Municipal Assembly and signed by its Chief Executive on January 12, 2010.

It reads: “Request for the allocation of motorbikes. The Dome Kwabenya Constituency is a new constituency and therefore lacks facilities to enable it achieve growth and developmental programmes successfully. “Our main hindrance is transportation. We shall be grateful if you can allocate us with six (6) of the confiscated motorbikes for use in the constituency. “Alhaji Abdul Basit Mohammed is the Chairman of eh constituency and responsible for social affairs in the Constituency who will use the bikes for the benefit of the constituency.

“We have also discussed this with the Chairman of the Council of State Professor Kofi Awoonor. We count on your co-operation.”
Though Alhaji Basit Mohammed is insisting the letter was only forged to help him clear his personal bikes, Daily Guide’s checks for CEPS show that such an arrangement would have been criminal.
“When you import motorbikes, there is an amount of money you pay on it and it is higher than what you pay when seized bikes are being sold to you on allocation. What you are saying means that the person used the forged letter to invade tax on his seized bikes and that is equally criminal on his part just as whoever forged the letter for him,” CEPS sources explained.

Further checks from the Council of State revealed that Prof. Kofi Awoonor was not even aware his name was being used to clear confiscated motorbikes for selected chairmen of the NDC.

Muntaka Probe Letter- The Facts

By Halifax Ansah-Addo
Daily Guide of Friday Nov. 26, 2010

Spokespersons of the Mills Government yesterday hopped from one radio station to other denying a DAILY GUIDE report that President John Evans Atta Mills has ordered fresh investigation into the controversial $20,000 Alhaji Muhammed Muntaka Mubarak is alleged to have pocketed when he was Minister for Youth and Sports.

Alhaji Muntaka himself also told the media that the DAILY GUIDE report was an old investigation and not a fresh one.

However, DAILY GUIDE's checks revealed that indeed, the Civil Service Council, acting on the directive of President Mills, has opened fresh investigations into the matter and what the spokespersons of government and Alhaji Muntaka told the media yesterday was not the truth.

While Alhaji Muntaka claimed the DAILY GUIDE story was a rehash of an old investigations, the paper can confirm that he was not speaking the truth because barely a week ago, precisely on Wednesday October 17, 2010, the Civil Service Council sent out official information that they had been directed to constitute a fact-finding committee for the purpose of uncovering the mystery surrounding the 'missing' $20,000.

Indeed, the very first person the committee would meet with over the matter was Alhaji Abdulai Yakubu and that meeting was scheduled for Tuesday November 23, 2010. Alhaji Muntaka himself has been ordered to appear before the committee on Wednesday December 8, 2010 at exactly 11:30 am.

The Civil Service Council has also ordered all officers who worked at the Sports Ministry and had any dealings with finances during the period Alhaji Muntaka was there to appear before the newly-constituted fact-finding committee.

The invited officers include Alhaji Muntaka himself, Rashid Pelpuo; Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament and a former Minister of Sports,Â Prosper Apasu; the Chief Accountant, Shelter James Ocloo; Internal Auditor, Albert Ampong, Adim Odoom, Ebenezer Lomotey, Charles Aryeh,Â and Clement Aku.

The letter inviting the above persons was signed by the Secretary of the Civil Service Council, Noah Tumfo, on behalf on the Chairman of the Civil Service Council, Dr Robert Dodoo.

DAILY GUIDE has also gathered that the committee is chaired by Dr. Robert Dodoo; Milly Quansah, Justice E.D.K. Adjabeng ; all members of the Council and W.K Kemevor; the Acting Head of Civil Service.

Messrs Albert Ampong and Adim Odoom, who were then respectively Chief Director and Principal Accountant at the Sports Ministry, have already explained and insisted that the $20,000 was given to Alhaji Muntaka, aside other huge amounts of money that unlawfully went to him.

This new order for an investigation comes as a surprise because the missing money had already been investigated by National Security on the orders of the Presidency and detailed reports submitted to President Mills who asked Muntaka to resign. President Mills also asked for the interdiction of the two officers, Albert Ampong and Adim Odoom.

Whether by coincidence or by someone's machinations, this latest order for another investigations into the matter comes just after government was ordered by the courts to re-instate Messrs Albert Ampong and Adim Odoom to their original positions, after they were wrongly interdicted and given half of their salary for months.