Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Armah Mensah known by stage name Shatta Wale has disclosed that he will not do volunteer work for the government and end up like Grace Nortey, Papa Nii and other notable Ghanaian celebrities.
According to him, if the government wants him to be an ambassador for the novel coronavirus, he will have to get paid.
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He made this statement in an interview on Happy98.9FM’s ‘Ayekoo After Drive’.
“What I’m doing is work. My time and strength will be spent there. If you want me to do something for you, you have to respect my efforts. If the government wants to engage me in the work, I will charge them. They pay the doctors at the frontline so why should I do it for free when I am equally working and risking myself?” he asked.
He cited that, “we were in Ghana when Papa Nii, TT and Grace Nortey were doing ads for free for Ghana. When they needed help in their old years, where was the government?,” asked the dancehall king.
“People will say doing this is a good platform for one’s career but I don’t do sacrifices and all that when it comes to business. When it comes to work and it looks like work, I’ll call the shots as it is,” he reiterated.
Shatta told host, DJ Advicer that if celebrities keep doing volunteer stuff for the government, they will have themselves to blame in the future. “In future we will have ourselves to blame. When I’m sick during my old age, I want to sign a check and pay for my health bills from my own account.
I don’t want to find myself in a situation begging for money. If goverment wants me to do some work for them, I’ll charge. The media can say I like money. Yes, I will take it so I don’t find myself in a bad situation. It’s all about the future,” he noted.
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Shatta Wale is already doing his part to support the COVID-19 fight. He was the first Ghanaian celebrity to give out a 1000 bottles of sanitizers to the public and is still doing more.
Shatta has managed to keep all his good deeds out of the media insisting, “this is not a time to publicise what you do.”
By: Joel Sanco