Two-time Guinness World Record (GWR) singing marathon candidate, Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum, has dispelled rumors she was given an SUV as a tourism ambassador.
She noted “people” had become “bitter,” mistakenly accusing her of “using state funds,” as a result of such rumors.
“Funny enough, last year when we were about to do the second attempt, I typed my name online and looked at the stories that came up. I was shocked to see a story that said I had been given a V8 [vehicle]. I exclaimed, ‘Eii, where is it?’ I never had a V8.”
Afua Asantewaa
“They said I’d even been given an apartment, also, but I live in my own house, by God’s grace,” she added, indicating this was why she was in the habit of speaking up, attempting to clear her name.
The serial entrepreneur further revealed what she received from the government at the time of her singing marathon.
“I’ve taken nothing from the government. The only thing I received was medicine to heal my throat [after singing] given to me by former Vice President [Mahamudu Bawumia] when he visited me [during the 2023 attempt]. I’ve kept it. It was very significant.”
Afua Asantewaa
She made the surprising revelation that much of the money and other gifts donated to her during her famed December 2023 sing-a-thon did not get to her.
“There was a team handling me. Some people came wearing Afua Asantewaa-branded t-shirts claiming to be volunteers, also. Someone may take donations and not hand them over.
“I don’t even have a list that shows this individual gave me this or that. So people may be bitter for reasons I have no clue of. The last one I remember is someone who told me they brought me a pack of [energy drinks].”
Afua Asantewaa
Afua Asantewaa bemoaned during her initial attempt, “It became so difficult to control certain things.”
“There were people present who pretended to be part of our team. They were not part of it. I was in the box, helpless, without access to my phone, and all that.”
Afua Asantewaa
She thanked members of the public who donated but felt slighted for not being recognized.
“In a way, while the gift may not have reached me personally, it may have sorted out the team. It may have been food, which didn’t get to me, but it’s probable the team was fed and kept the program running. Forgive us, too. It was beyond our expectations.
“Had we expected gifts, we would have designated a table and a team specifically for that as they do at weddings and other events. We didn’t know it was going to result in this. That said, it is something I’d forever hold dear in my heart, given the kindness Ghanaians showed us. So forgive us, I had no clue.”
Afua Asantewaa
Afua Asantewaa also stated that she was ready to appear before the President John Mahama-led government’s accountability task force responsible for the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative.
Afua Asantewaa on How She Confronted Okraku-Mantey
The serial entrepreneur reminisced about when she auditioned for Mentor, TV3’s reality show for music performers.
“I sang a song by Becca and Okraku Mantey told me to go audition for a beauty pageant [rather].”
Afua Asantewaa
Asantewaa indicated the comment from the legendary record and executive producer Mark Okraku-Mantey, “really hurt me but I took it in good faith, took part in a beauty pageant, and rose to the second position”.
She noted incidentally, “When I was doing the sing-a-thon, he was also a deputy tourism minister.”
“When he was a judge for Mentor, I was [first] runner-up Miss Tourism Ghana. So when he came into my box sing-a-thon, I reminded him he asked me to go try a beauty pageant instead of singing, and that I was now singing and he had come to pay a courtesy call on me. That’s how life is, it goes round and round.”
Asantewaa Aduonum
She emphasized her passion for music, despite criticism from the public concerning her vocal performance during her famed 2023 and 2024 Guinness World Record (GWR) singing marathon (sing-a-thon) attempts. “So I’ve not given up on music, if you write the song for me, I will sing it,” she added.
After her 2023 Akwaaba Village, Airport, sing-a-thon which drew a mammoth crowd, Asantewaa was appointed a tourism ambassador by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) led by former CEO Akwasi Agyemang.
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