Ghanaian UK-based gospel singer, Sonnie Badu, has broken silence on a 50,000 dollars he reportedly charged for a brief musical performance during the launch of the National Cathedral fundraising campaign held in the United States in February 2019.
The Ghanaian musician denied claims of charging such an amount of money from organizers. According to Sonnie who responded to the claim in a tweet, he never demanded payment for his service. He again highlighted the poor reception at the fundraising event where none of his team, including himself, was offered a seat.
“Wow, thanks for alerting me. I was not given a dime …not even a seat for me and my team. We stood outside,” read Sonnie’s response to a Twitter user who wanted clarification on the amount he took for his musical performance.
Reacting to the singer’s statement, the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram and a member of the National Democratic Congress, Sam Nartey George, called out the Akuffo Addo-led administration and the National Cathedral Board for fund misappropriation.
Parts of Sam George’s statement read: “They claimed to have paid Sonnie Badu $50,000 for a song ministration at the launch in the US. Now he has come out to say he was not given a dime and not even a seat was offered to him and his team. So, who took the $50,000? Surely the Trustees do NOT know about this! Again, they claimed to have paid GHS30,000 to each of the gospel artists who ministered at the launch here in Accra. Can those artists also confirm if they received these monies?”.
The fundraiser for the construction of the National Cathedral project was held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC, in 2019. The event was attended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and other dignitaries.
Numerous Ghanaians have expressed their displeasure in the government’s idea to erect the National Cathedral which in no way contributes anything to the development of the country. Ghanaians are still facing harsh conditions in the country yet the government prefers building a cathedral.
Meanwhile, several structures have been demolished within the parliament area in the Greater Accra region. Several Ghanaians have also backlashed the Akufo Addo-led government over their reluctance to compensate the private developers whose structures were demolished for the construction of the National Cathedral.
Following all these issues, Ghanaian actor cum politician, John Dumelo also took to his social media to inquire if there is actually a connection between religion and the development of the country. He also registered his frustrations on the fact that several companies that could be enhanced to decrease unemployment in the country, are being converted into churches.
John Dumelo wrote; “Is there a link between religion & development? Do Ghanaians spend more time praying for Ghana to be better than actually making the physical effort to make things better? We are converting factories to churches and paying more tithes than taxes. Is that the right approach?”.
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