By: Kobina Baidoo
The Ghana Tourism Authority in partnership with Beyond the Return Secretariat, on Monday organized a prestigious dinner night as part of activities to acknowledge music legend, Stevie Wonder as a citizen of Ghana.
The event which took place at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra was organized by GTA to not only celebrate the legendary hitmaker but also highlight the strides of the ‘Beyond The Return initiative, which has evidently made impact since its inception in 2019.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, in a welcome address expressed how privileged Ghana is to be the new home of the singer. He also wished Stevie Wonder a happy birthday and deemed it an honor to celebrate with the singer.
The mood of the night was set right with indigenous Ghanaian music that spanned across a variety of genres, as all patrons waltzed to an exquisite serve-yourself buffet.
After a brief time of enjoying Ghanaian food, Stevie Wonder was presented with a prestigious award by The Diaspora African Forum(DAF) with a Bridge Builders Award for using his platform to connect Africa to the diaspora and advocating for peace and unity.
GTA climaxed the event with a cake cutting session to celebrate the musician, which was followed by a stellar performance by Ghanaian multiple Grammy nominee, Rocky Dawuni. Rocky soon shared the stage with Stevie Wonder who would shake the crowd with a song he instantly made while on stage. “The time has come to make things happen for ourselves; if we want to do something we must be it first; let’s build the new Africa together.” Stevie said.
Other prominent music industry players present were Kojo Antwi and Reggie Rockstone.
On Monday, May 13, 2024 Stevie Wonder officially received a certificate of Ghanaian citizenship by President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House where he was officially declared a citizen of the Republic of Ghana.