Family of missing Hiplife artiste
Castro De Destroyer has stopped the umbrella body for musicians in Ghana
– the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), from organizing any ceremony
meant to mark the one week of Castro’s mysterious disappearance.
The
family led by Castro’s father revealed this to the union over the
weekend when members and some executives visited the family in Accra.
Prior
to their visit to the family on Saturday July 12, MUSIGA had already
began publicity on a solemn night vigil in form of a candle light
procession scheduled for yesterday Sunday July 13 at Ada where the
unfortunate incident happened.
MUSIGA in collaboration with Kojo
Antwi’s Breeze 90.9 FM planned a song and prayer vigil at Ada in
solidarity with Castro’s family at 5pm Sunday July 13 and the dress code
was supposed to be white but it appears MUSIGA did not give Castro’s
family prior notice early enough for them to decide whether they were
going to give them the go-ahead before they went public with the
information.
In view of this, the family cancelled the much anticipated vigil for Castro just few hours before the scheduled date.
"The
planned trip by MUSIGA and Breeze FM to Ada for a prayer session in
solidarity with Castro has been called off till further notice. Sorry
for the inconvenience”, sent to the media on Saturday evening by MUSIGA
administrator Daddy Bosco.
Even though MUSIGA did not really
state the real reason why the vigil was called off, a member of Castro’s
family who spoke to Peacefmonline.com on condition of anonymity
disclosed that due to some superstitious beliefs and the fact that the
family still believes Castro is alive, they couldn't have allowed MUSIGA
to go ahead with night vigil.
“We believe our son Castro is
still alive so why should we allow something like this to happen in his
memory as if he is dead. We will only accept his death when we see his
dead body”.
Sunday was exactly one week since the incident and
according the Akan tradition if any ceremony is allowed to happen on the
that particular day, then it’s as though the family has accepted that
Castro is dead.
MUSIGA intended to organize this annually in
anticipation that Castro would return alive one day or even if he is
dead his body may be found.
The family has however agreed to
collaborate with MUSIGA for any arrangement later when they finally
decide to organize any ceremony in memory of Castro.
Theophilus
Tagoe, known in showbiz cycles as “CASTRO UNDERFYRE” and Janet Bandu of
“I am in Love with Bomaye” fame went “Missing” on Sunday July 6, when
they went jet skiing on the Ada-Volta estuary.
The two are
suspected to have drowned after a Jet Ski accident on the Volta Lake in
Ada. But families of the two, music lovers and friends are keeping hope
alive.
Valentina Nana Agyeiwaa, aka Afia
Schwarzenegger, an actress and a presenter on UTV, who has been accused
of making defamatory statements about Becca, has expressed excitement
over the ‘You Lied Me’ hit-maker’s decision to institute a legal action
against her.
Afia Schwarzenegger told BEATWAVES in a chat that
she is ever ready to meet Becca in court, adding, “I am happy that at
least the issue will be resolved by the court.”
The presenter has
denied ever alleging that Becca, one of the ambassadors selected by the
Sports Ministry to rally support for the Black Stars and raise funds
for supporters, was involved in any sex scandal with any Black Stars
player in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup in exchange for money.
“The
court will give me the opportunity to defend myself. I have known Becca
for sometime now and do not have any bad feelings against Becca. I am
waiting to be served with the writ,” she added.
Some weeks ago,
Becca came out with a statement that the presenter on her prime time TV
show on UTV had accused her of having sex with a member of the Black
Stars team in exchange for money.
Prior to the airing of the said
programme, Afia posted the agenda for the evening’s show and included
one topic labelled as ‘sex ambassadors’.
Becca, who described the
allegation as baseless and lacking any merit, hinted that she had
already instructed her lawyers to take legal action against Afia
Schwarzenegger and others who were actively involved in tarnishing her
hard-earned reputation through the allegation.
Popular actress Yvonne Okoro on
Tuesday released a new trailer for her cooking TV show ‘Dining With’,
teasing her guest and TV host Naa Ashorkor Mensah Doku, sister Elizabeth
Okoro and Sandra Ankobiah over their inability to prepare pizza.
“You
know this between you and me, Naa Ashorkor sucks; she can’t cook to
save her life. That girl was just spreading the food all over…what were
Sandra and Elizabeth doing?” she teased.
Interestingly, the ladies themselves also admitted their fault and blamed each other for the mess.
The
trailer is the second since reports of the show. It is a blend of a
talk show and a cooking show, produced by the popular actress’
Desamour
Company Ltd, producers of the award-winning hit movie, ‘Contract’ in
collaboration with Ifactory Live, producers of Jim Iyk’s ‘Unscripted’
and Omotola’s ‘The Real Me’.
The 13-episode show will start airing on TV very soon and also on www.desamourtv.com.
The show, which comes with some hilarious moments, is being produced to meet the interest of all kinds of viewers.
High-life musician Pozo Hayes says
his condition as a physically challenged person has moved him to help
make life less difficult for persons living with disabilities.
He
is therefore embarking on a musical tour to raise funds for a charity
project that will help the physically challenged in Ghanaian orphanages.
He
is scheduled to perform at Bronx in New York, Woodbridge in Virginia
and North Brunswick with his PH International Band by the end of this
year.
The musician said it would be an honour to put smiles on
the faces of persons living with disability especially those who have no
one to cater for them.
“Although I cannot solve all the problems
facing the physically challenged persons in Ghana, I believe my little
contribution will help a lot,” he added.
He lamented that the physically challenged are mostly left on the streets and no attention is given them.
“It
saddens my heart when I see physically challenged person on the streets
begging for money. Because I am one, I feel like weeping when I come
across them. The show is to raise funds for the physically challenged
and the orphanages and I wish corporate bodies can come on board to
help,” he added. The tour is being put together by Royal Community
Services and Eternal Life Ministries in Somerset NJ, USA.
Known
for songs like ‘Akeka akeka’, ‘Odo mu nsohwe’, ‘Obaa Lydia’, Pozo said
he waited a long time to thrill his fans who have not heard from him in
these few years.
Pozo was awarded Best Singer at the
Entertainment Critics Reviewers Association of Ghana in 1988 and Voice
of the Year at Sunshine Music Society the same year.
DJ Amess, former manager of hiplife
musician Castro has condemned a planned candlelight procession organised
by the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) in honour of the artiste.
Rescue
operations started Sunday, July 6, 2014 for Castro, born Theophilus
Tagoe, and his female companion, Janet Bandu who went missing while jet
skiing on the Volta Lake at Ada.
Castro and Black Stars captain,
Asamoah Gyan were at the Peace Holiday Resort in Ada, together with some
friends, for recreation when the unfortunate incident occurred.
The
Marine Division of the Ghana Police Service intensified search
operations Monday but as at Friday, hopes of finding Castro and Janet
alive, seemed to have been lost.
According to DJ Amess, Castro is
part of the 100 musicians who took the Ghana Music Right Organization
(GHAMRO) to court, accusing Carlos Sakyi, former Chairman of GHAMRO, of
embezzling funds collected on behalf of music rights owners in Ghana,
and was shocked that MUSIGA was not able to issue a statement but wanted
to organise a procession in his memory.
“I’m sorry, I am disappointed in my own group (MUSIGA),” he told Hitz FM in an interview.
Hiplife
musician Okyeame Kwame, a member of MUSIGA had revealed on Hitz FM that
MUSIGA was going to hold a candlelight procession in Ada on Sunday,
July 13.
The ceremony, he noted, was a sign of hope that their comrade would be found.
A
delegation from the musicians' group, headed by Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah
(Tic Tac) visited Castro’s family in a bid to get their permission for
the event but his family turned down the request on the grounds that
Castro has not been dead.
DJ Amess complained about news circulating on social media that Castro is dead.
“The family hasn’t confirmed that their child is dead or alive,” he added.
The disappearance of Theophilus Tagoe
aka Castro and Janet Bandu has surprisingly ventured into another week
without possible answers to the circumstances surrounding their loss and
solutions to either finding them alive or dead.
Castro’s tragedy
is trending as the most shocking story making the headlines with all
forms of conspiracy theories coming to play and with ‘mallams’ and
‘Maame Water’ agents all coming to the fore with outrageous suggestions
and opinions.
In all these, one very important person who has not
featured prominently in discussions over the week is the wife of
Castro, who has remained uncharacteristically quiet in moments like
this.
When news made rounds that Castro might have drowned with
his alleged girlfriend, many people raised questions about the artiste’s
fidelity, others were not aware of his marital status and some have
even asserted that; Castro and the wife are divorced.
Razz
newspaper has news that the wife of Castro, Mrs Dorothy Tagoe will be in
Ghana before the close of the week from her base in Canada.
According
to findings of the paper, Mrs Tagoe is jetting down to Ghana for
several reasons; to squash trending rumours about the status of their
marriage, to show solidarity to the families and to look for her
husband.
After the incident and the aftermath, many media firms
have tried reaching Mrs Tagoe to ascertain whether she is/was legally
married to the multiple award-winning artiste before his disappearance:
and also to find out how she is feeling in the midst of all the stories
emerging concerning her husband.
When one Maa Afia, the said
sister to Mrs Dorothy Tagoe was contacted, she declined to issue any
comment on Castro’s vanishing and his marriage-saying that the family
has given strict orders that nobody from the family should grant
interviews. She however intimated that, her sister, Castro’s wife will
be in Ghana to address any nagging issues.
Maafia also confirmed that Theophilus Tagoe and Dorothy Tagoe are legally married and have never divorced.
Gospel musician Grace Ashy, and
actress Rose Akua Attaa Mensah, alias Kyeiwaa, on Tuesday, led a group
showbiz artistes to present an appeal to the Women Caucus in Parliament
to support Ghanaians women in soccer.
The appeal comes ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup scheduled for Canada next year, 2015.
As the world finished paying attention to the World Cup which took
place in Brazil, Canada is gearing up for a massive soccer championship
of its own.
In a chat with the caucus, Grace Ashy recalled the
role music and cheer-songs had played in elevating the men’s side of
Ghanaian soccer, and appealed to the Women Caucus to make the elevation
of women soccer, a matter of concern in their deliberations in the
House.
She stressed that it was important that the Caucus
supported artistes in their efforts to use performances to promote game
among women, to reclaim their lost glory in soccer.
Kyeiwaa,
displaying some acting antics, and shouting some cheer songs, said the
artistes were ready to use their media to promote the game to elevate to
the height men soccer had reached.
Hajia Mary Salifu Boforo,
Chairperson of the Women’s Caucus, commended the artistes on their
initiative, and pledged the support of the caucus.
