Controversial musician A-Plus, after aggressively campaigning for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be voted into power has raised red flags over what he calls “wasteful expenses which could create a bad name for the party”.
A-Plus raised the alarm in reference to a victory jams cum street carnival the NPP advertised to be held at Kwaku Abetifi with live performances from some of Ghana’s best musicians including Shatta Wale, Amaakye Dede among others.
“We campaigned against the NDC because its leaders were seen to be blowing money all over and it made the masses annoyed. This is the same thing this MP is doing by organizing jams to spend huge amounts of money. I think the MP there (Bryan Acheampong) could have used the money to do something more useful for his constituents.”
“The party is having victory jams and the artistes on the bill are Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi, Shatta Wale, and some others, we are all in the industry and we have an idea what those artists charge for performance. At the end of the jams, over GH¢200, 000 would have been spent on the event…..This is alien to the NPP. There are people living in Abetifi who want jobs and potable water…It is not my job to tell the MP in that area how to spend his money. But I can tell him that the NPP is not ready for such things”, A-Plus complained through a video he posted on his facebook wall.
A-Plus openly declared himself a member of the Creative Arts for Change, a pro- NPP association of stakeholders within the creative arts sector and went round the country to campaign for the NPP.
Among his complaints was the fact that even if the NPP wanted to organize post-election victory jams, it could have been done in moderation by contracting the same artists who performed for the NPP without charging the party during the electioneering campaign period.
He explained: “If the NPP has won and wants to celebrate, there are musicians who campaigned and performed at NPP events without charging the party. If you call those same artistes, they would show up and perform… Aduodzi followed the NPP campaign for free. When the victory has come, the Abetifi MP has gone for Shatta Wale to come and play at his victory jams. Where are the artistes who campaigned for the party for free? Now you have seen victory and gone in for artistes who charge more.”
“Today the NPP is blowing money on jams. This is how it all starts and then before we realize there is a wasteful spending of money.”
A-Plus opined, the money could have been used for other projects he described as “more useful”.
“We are asking you to spend the money on the people who stood in the sun to vote for change but not on jams. Even if you want to celebrate, it should be in moderation. I know Abetifi very well but this type of spending on jams annoys people… We are talking about Abetefi, a place where they do not have a good library where children can go to read. This amount could hev been used to set up a computer laboratory. “
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