The Chief Executive Officer of
Precise Music Productions, John Agbenu, whose name was mentioned as one
of the 100 music right owners who have sued the Ghana Music Right
Organisation (GHAMRO) and its board members for dissipating funds, has
denied his involvement in the case.
In an exclusive interview
with BEATWAVES on Monday in Accra, John Agbenu declared that “I have not
authorised or given consent to Nana Kwame Ampadu to include my name or
represent me in suing GHAMRO and its 12 member board led by Carlos
Sakyi. I am not part or in support of the action taken by Nana Kwame
Ampadu and others.”
He told BEATWAVES that he was shocked when he
got wind that his name was part of the list of 100 agitated music right
owners who supported the court action against GHAMRO.
He
continued…, “I and my company do not want to associate ourselves in any
court action being engineered by Nana Kwame Ampadu and others against
GHAMRO and its board members. I am discussing the issue with my lawyers
and very soon appropriate action would be taken against those who used
my name for their diabolic agenda without my consent.”
Another
seasoned music producer, Nana Asa Mensah, aka Agiecoat, who has produced
stars like Kontihene, Buk Bak, 4X4, among others, had also denied his
involvement in the suit filed against GHAMRO and its board members.
He stated, “I am not aware and have not instituted any legal action against GHAMRO and its board members”.
Another
music right owner, Justice Ofosu Okyere in a letter dated June 9 also
denied knowledge of any involvement with any group of persons to
represent him in the case against GHAMRO and its board members.
“By
this note, I am informing the court that and whoever may be concerned
that I am not part of or in support of the court action taken by Nana
Kwame Ampadu and others against GHAMRO and its board.
“I,
therefore, declare that this court action does not have my consent or
authority and empatically states that Nana Kwame Ampadu cannot act for
or on my behalf. I hearby condemn this action in no uncertain terms.”
Nana
Kwame Ampadu and 100 others on May 15, 2014 dragged GHAMRO and its 12
member board to court to account for monies they collected on their
behalf.
Nigeriafilms.com can authoritatively
tell its readers that veteran Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, is
strong and healthy as against the wide speculations that he was sick and
needed prayers.
The Delta state Commissioner for Culture and
Tourism was spotted by Nigeriafilms.com yesterday at an event held to
pay tribute for the late movie icon, Amaka Igwe, who died few weeks ago
at the age of 51.
RMD, who was the master of ceremony, was seen
leaving up to expectations at the service of songs and was even
interacting with friends who walked up to greet him.
The actor even went as far as granting media interviews and was so full of life without any trace of ill health.
RMD,
as the Commissioner is well known as, is a household name in the
Nigerian entertainment industry. He is a youth ambassador and
motivational speaker. He has appeared as a lead man in over a hundred
(100) stage plays and four (4) major TV series on the Nigerian
TV/Network.
He has also featured in over fifty (50) movie titles
which include Violated, Scores to Settle, Suicide Mission, Diamond Ring,
Out of Bound, Keeping Faith, Made in Heaven, The Mayors, Hostages,
Love, legend, Glorified and The Harbinger to mention but a few.
Beautiful Yvonne Okoro seems really hurt when she was tagged as being broke because she repeated her yellow dress.
After
the report by Ghanacelebrities.com, the actress took to instagram to
lambast the writer of that article and when all thought the issue was
dead and gone, she is back again saying she will repeat it again.
The
"Contract" actress has vented her spleen at those involved in the
brouhaha over her recent ‘repeated dress’, saying, “I will repeat my
dress.”
In an interview with News One Newspaper yesterday June 9,
2014, Yvonne was coated saying: “I will repeat my dress any time I want
to. I don’t owe anybody any explanation. Billionaires and millionaires
all over the world can repeat dresses and its fine but we can’t. Who is
arresting me for doing so? The inspector dress or the FBI of clothes?”
Yvonne Okoro made a fun of her critics. Yvonne reportedly repeated a yellow
Karen Millen modern tribal dress last week on a movie set in Nigeria
after she wore it in August 2012 to Showbiz Honours launch at Holiday
Inn Hotel in Accra.
Subsequent media reports claimed that the actress decided to repeat the dress because “she is broke.”
But the beautiful award-winning actress described the claims as “unintelligent and childish.”
She
said she found it difficult to comprehend how “any learned person”
would think that repeating a dress determined one’s bank account.
Earlier,
she took to instargram react to the claims, advising young girls, “…if
it looks that good let no one tell you, you can’t wear more than once.
Bring back our girls to reality.”
She also denied claims about how she acquired her Mercedes Benz.
Few days ago, it was reported that
some gunmen stormed the home of Daniel Ademinokan in Abuja, seeking for
Stella Damasus. Later, she went on Twitter to state that she won’t be
cowed for standing for the truth.
In case you missed it,read it HERE and HERE
In
one of her new messages on Twitter, Stella maintained that she is not
moved by any threat. She stated that she will not stop speaking the
truth. Read what she said below;
“No matter what anyone tries to
do, it will not stop me from speaking the truth and standing up for the
rights of women and young girls. These are the kind of things that get
people scared of and run away from; standing up for their rights. It’s a
pity that we say Nigeria is a democratic country, but where is the
democracy when people cannot speak their minds for fear of threats like
this or danger of being killed.
“I am not one of those who shout
in the morning and then at night I go behind the public and accept
“Ghana must go” from those who are causing these problems. We all see
what is wrong and what is going on. Shutting me up will not put an end
to the issues we are facing. If we don’t deal with these things now,
what kind of society are we leaving behind for our children and their
children? Definitely not a place where they can live in freedom and
peace.
“This is not a popularity contest but about speaking the
truth and standing up for what is right. They should shift the focus
from me and place priority on the matters at hand, and place it on the
safety of Nigerians, rescuing the abducted girls, deleting the bill that
legally puts our little girls in the hands of paedophiles, paying
attention to the amount of women dying from domestic violence daily,
unemployment, inadequate health care, proper education, pension funds,
economic development and all the other things that are affecting the
nation.”
The Ministry of Youth and Sports
unveiled a number of musicians, actors, and veteran footballers as
Ghana’s official Ambassadors for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
They
include; Becca, John Dumelo, Jackie Appiah, Grace Ashy, CK Akonnor,
Tony Baffoe, Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew, Kwame Ayew, Augustine Ahinful, Samuel
Osei Kuffour, Tony Yeboah, Azumah Nelson, and Ali Jarrah.
The
ambassadors, among other things, are responsible for campaigning to the
corporate world and the general public for support towards Ghana’s
journey to World Cup glory. This includes: the campaign to raise funds
to enable the supporters union of Ghana to travel to Brazil in order to
support the Ghana Black Stars. The ambassadors will be making a call to
the public to text ‘SCORE’ to 1474 at a cost of 70 pesewas per SMS.
John
Dumelo, who is one of the ambassadors, has revealed that so far, they
have solicited for over $ 2million. He made those remarks on Hitz FM
when the host, Andy Dosty asked him how much they – ambassadors have
collected.
“I can’t give you the actual figure because I don’t
readily have all the documents in my hands but I can tell you that we
have solicited well over $ 2million dollars” John said. John went
further to reveal that their ambassadorial work is purely voluntary –
they received no pay. “On the letter of appointment, it was indicated
that it’s a voluntary work. There was no pay in it” John ended.
Veteran actress Maame Dokono, aka
Grace Omaboe, may consider playing a role in a movie for free if that is
what it will take to entice film makers to use the services of veteran
actors who have been made ‘redundant’ in recent times.
The
66-year-old veteran actress who is disappointed that old actors have
been sidelined told Showbiz last week Tuesday that she was willing to
render her services for free if the message of the movie is good.
“I
love acting and I am ready to work for free if the story is one that
drives home a good message that will bring about positive change”, she
said.
“However, when I say I will work for free, it doesn’t mean
I will bear my own transportation to and from location, board and lodge
among others. All I am saying is that, I will not charge a fee for my
services. Anyway, this doesn’t also mean I will be doing it for free all
the time. I will have to get paid at some point in time.
“I need
to go back to acting again because I am bored and I get lonely
sometimes. I miss being on set and being in front of the cameras. I miss
seeing myself in movies and I am finding it difficult to understand why
film makers do not want to use us anymore.
“ The last time I
played in a major movie was about five or six years ago although, I
played a mother role some seven months ago in a short film, a
documentary of Ananse. And I am not alone here. Almost all the old
actors have been sidelined. They haven’t been on set for a long while.
“Veteran
actors are still being used in Hollywood and even neighbouring Nigeria
so why can’t it be same down here. Why do they rather want to use
make-up and powder to push young ones into elderly roles? And sometimes,
they even do a bad job of it so why not use people who are naturally
elderly? This just beats my mind”.
According to the mother of six
and grandmother of 10, she tried finding out why the old actors were
not being used and she was told they were not bankable.
“From my
own investigations, I am told the film makers say we are not marketable
but I don’t think that is true because there are a few films that have
featured some of my old colleagues and they have done well on the market
so what are they talking about?
“I also heard we are expensive
but that is also not true. So far as I know, they haven’t approached us
so how can we charge them? We are not expensive but they should give us
something that will make us happy. We can always negotiate.
“ I
think the film makers should reconsider their decision not to use the
old actors. For some of us, that is all we know and it is also our
source of income so being out of work has become very stressful. Most of
us have even fallen ill duet to that.
“ You see, going on set
can be therapeutic for us. We get to interact with people. We get to
talk, laugh, among others. We become active and that is de-stressing
enough. We also earn some money to keep body and soul together. This
will prevent some of us from going round begging for money and being
ridiculed sometimes in the process. I tell you, it has not been rosy for
some of us” she said.
Maame Dokono who currently runs a school,
Graceful Grace Academy in Adenta said the situation is very bad for
some of the veteran actors.
“I am relatively comfortable but I
am bored. I get to visit my children and grandchildren abroad but still
it can be boring sometimes. I spend my time interacting with my pupils
when school is in session but I get really lonely and bored when the
kids are on vacation. I can imagine what my colleagues who used to
depend solely on acting must be going through this challenging times”,
she said.
Despite the fact that Maame Dokono feel sidelined
lately, she has no regrets at all choosing acting as a career. “Acting
has taken me to a lot of places and I know I have impacted positively on
a number of people especially women and children”, she said.
Maame
Dokono who also ventured into radio and TV said that she was trying to
get back on TV to do story telling like she used to do with By The
Fireside but it has not been easy. “Getting sponsorship has been a
challenge but I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. One
needs a lot of money to come out with quality production and I hope some
sponsorship will come my way soon.”
Asked if she would go back
to politics, Maame Dokono who tried and lost twice the primaries of the
Birim North on the New Patriotic Party(NPP) ticket said she had no plans
of doing so.
“You need a lot of money to do politics and I
cannot afford that kind of money right now. I tried twice at the
primaries and lost on both occasions and I don’t think I want to do that
again. I think I will rather help from behind the scenes.
Last night in South Africa, the
Durban’s International Conference Centre witnessed great performances
from some of Africa’s most talented artistes including-Sarkodie,Tiwa
Savage, Fally Ipupa, Michael Lowman, Don Jazzy, DJ Clock, Beatenberg, DJ
Kent, Big Nuz, Toofan, D’Banj, Davido and several others as part of
activities for the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA).
Apart
from the tall list of performances, various musical artistes on the
African continent were awarded for their excellent works and
creativity—as music made in Africa was celebrated.
From Ghana,
Sarkodie made us proud by winning the Best Hip Hop artiste of the year
award…The event was put together by MTV and Zulu-Natal Province.
Other
highlights of the evening included a moving acoustic guitar tribute to
the late, great Nelson Mandela by Afro-Soul star Simphiwe Dana, who
performed in front of a giant timelapse video art work by Transform
Today nominee and street artist Rasty, while Ladysmith Black Mambazo
brought the house to its feet with their unexpected mash up “Acappello”
and “Y-tjukutja”. Marlon Wayans, the host highlighted the plight of the
kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls.
Legendary stand-up comic, film
and television sensation Marlon Wayans hosted MAMA 2014 with his
trademark humour, making a triumphant entrance on a blinged-up rickshaw
and engaging the audience with his easy charm. Celebrity guests
attending the event included Khloe Kardashian, French Montana, D’Banj,
Nomzamo Mbatha, Goldfish, DJ Fresh, John Vlismas, Kajal Bagwandeen,
Emmanuel Adebayo, Minnie Dlamini, Sizwe Dhlomo, Dorcas Shola Fapson, DJ
C’ndo, Efya, Omotola and Riaad Moosa.
Check below for highlights from the event + the full list of the winners
Full list of the winners-2014 MTV Africa Music Awards
Best Male: Davido (Nigeria)
Best Female: Tiwa Savage (Nigeria)
Best Group: Mafikizolo (South Africa)
Best New Act: Stanley Enow (Cameroon)
Best Live Act: Flavour (Nigeria)
Best Collaboration: “Y-tjukutja” – Uhuru Ft. Oskido, DJ Bucks, Professor and Yuri Da Cunha (South Africa/Angola)
Best Hip Hop: Sarkodie (Ghana)
Best Alternative: Gangs of Ballet (South Africa)
Best Francophone: Toofan (Togo)
Best Lusophone: Anselmo Ralph (Angola)
Artist of the Year: Davido (Nigeria)
Song of the Year: “Khona” – Mafikizolo ft Uhuru (South Africa)
Best Video: Clarence Peters (Nigeria)
Best Pop: Goldfish (South Africa)
Best International: Pharrell
Personality of the Year: Lupita Nyong’o (Kenya)
MTV Base Leadership Award: Ashish J. Thakkar (Tanzania)
Transform Today Award by Absolut: Clarence Peters (Nigeria)
