Veteran actress, Akofa Edjeani has revealed that there is no harm with creatives endorsing and associating with a particular political party.
She explained that all persons have the right to choose the political parties they affiliate with and creatives are no exception.
“I really don’t think there is anything wrong with that because we all have our political affiliations and so if you are a creative person you feel like endorsing a party, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Akofa Edjeani
According to her, the “pettiness” of Ghanaians has rather misconstrued such acts and caused hate against creatives who chose to associate with a particular political party.
“Your business suffers, and everything you do. If you are not lucky that your candidate wins and the opponent comes to power, you are dead. They will sabotage everything and anything that you do. I think it’s very unfortunate and for me, I think it’s petty.”
Akofa Edjeani
Akofa made comparisons to the American showbiz industry, highlighting the likes of Oprah Winfrey who publicly associated with political parties and faced no punishment for their choices.
Recalling a vivid experience, Akofa lamented that while the NDC’s flagbearer was in power, she benefited from his policy to give out cars to some creatives who could not afford to purchase cars.
She stated they were made to pay for the cars in installments through an account given to them. However, she claimed that when President Akuffo-Addo assumed power, the vehicle was taken from them for no reason and they did not receive any refund.
“He [John Mahama] started with 50. They gave 25 to Kumasi and the North and 25 to Accra for both actors and musicians and these are not flashy cars. I got i10. When NPP came to power, my car was taken away.
“My son was driving it, it had a tracker because we were paying for it, we had years to be paying for it. When they came to power, they tracked it, my son was driving it, and they stopped him and took the car away.”
Akofa Edjeani
Actress Recounts a Downhearted Moment After Performing in a Play
Akofa Edjeani shared a moment in her acting career when she was left downhearted after performing in a play.
She recounted that after featuring in a play titled ‘A Reason in the Sun’, she could not detach herself from the character she played.
According to her, the play depicted the story about racial abuse against Black people and she featured in the play while she was still at the University of Ghana.
“In this play, it talks about the dreams and aspirations of a Black person. There was this Black family and they were the only Black family living in a white neighborhood and then they wanted them to move out to use the place for a horse stable.
“That play really got me and that’s the only time in my life that I have acted and I couldn’t detach myself from the character. I remember at the Arts Centre, we were having our theatre season and after the play, they had to drag me to come for the curtain because I was crying, I was backstage, and I broke down weeping like a baby.”
Akofa Edjeani
Providing reasons for being in such an unprofessional situation, Akofa Edjeani explained that the whole story about the Blacks, slave trade, and racism sparks her emotions.
“It gets to me the way Blacks have been treated, our ancestors, the way they were sent over there packed like sardines, the slave trade story, that’s something I always get emotional about. Things like that get me emotional,” she added.
The ace actress hinted about her plans to redirect the play for the Black History Month of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana.
