I am going to look at the increasing problem of veteran Ghanaian entertainers falling on media appeals and sometimes individual interventions from kind hearted Ghanaians such as President Mahama for medical support and old age upkeep—as if they’ve been cripples all their lives.
Life will never turn out to be what we plan it to be and a person cannot be carefully enough. However, there seems to be a hovering sense of irresponsibility if each day we are told of a veteran Ghanaian entertainer in dire need of help—literally begging to eat or pay for his medical bills.
These people were celebrated when they were in their prime and reasonably made some good money, compared to the village pupil teacher and yet we seem to be constantly bombarded with disheartening appeals to help veteran Ghanaian entertainers with money or else they would literally die.
Not long ago, the late Nii Odoi Mensah was in the media begging for money to take care of his much needed kidney surgery. This can be elevated beyond this particular indictment since the cost of the surgery was huge enough to swallow whatever personal savings the actor had. He needed about 15,000 dollars for a kidney transplant in China.
Just last week, William Addo, veteran of both theatre and cinema extended his profound gratitude to President John Dramani Mahama for paying 2500 GHS for a desperate eye surgery he needed after the President heard of his media appeal.
William Addo needed just 2500 GHS and the President of Ghana had to pay that for him—this is a man who has worked all his life and has a family.
Today, another veteran Ghanaian actor-Abeiku Nyame (Jagga Pee) is begging for help—this time, he is appealing directly to President Mahama to help clear off his 2500 GHS pending medical bills at the 37 Military Hospital and Holy Trinity Hospital.
Jagga Pee told a reporter from RazzOnline that;
My brother Reagan Mends, things are not well for me at all. I have been very sick for almost a year now. Money to pay for my hospital bills has been very difficult since I don’t often get jobs like I use to. I went unconscious and was admitted at the Holy Trinity Hospital then was later transferred to the 37 Military Hospital. I still owe the two hospitals Ghc2,500.00 for bills. I can’t pay the bills so I am appealing to president Mahama to come to my aid by helping me with his’“celebrities for Mahama project’.
No matter how woebegone the situations of these people are and there are a lot more I have not mentioned, it’s grossly unfair for them to be calling on President Mahama to come and fix what seems like their own financial mess.
Imagine the sort of media chaos we will have if all the pupil teachers, farmers and the many Ghanaians who cannot pay their medical bills are granted air time or media coverage to appeal to the one President of the country, Mahama, to come and foot their bills as if he is some sort of a celestial Messiah for the sick, feeble and poor.
Ghana does not operate a free healthcare system except the lousy NHIS we have in place and the President of Ghana is not supposed to be footing individual medical bills—therefore, Ghanaians, especially those we call celebrities need to think about their tomorrow.
We’ve seen the number of first class plane tickets the likes of Jackie Appiah, Yvonne Nelson, John Dumelo, Sandra Ankobiah, Majid Michel and the rest are buying today. If they do not have funds in place for when they are old and unable to secure regular jobs, why must the ordinary hardworking Ghanaians, the President or any body come to their forlorn aid?
I believe most of these people have largely been irresponsible just as those we have today seem to be proudly doing.
Some of these people wouldn’t even take photos with fans and we are all witnesses to their high spending, buying LV and Chanel bags—yet when it is all over and they are dead broke, they run back to these same fans they marginalized when they were at their peak for financial salvation.
It’s good to reach out and help those you can but if a group of people, in this case Ghanaian entertainers keep coming to ask for support, that’s not charity but a piss take.
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