Ohemaa Mercy charges for peformance fee at Sonnie Badu concert

 On November 30th, 2013 which was my birthday, the Accra Sports Stadium got lighted up with Africa Worships with Sonnie Badu.

Notwithstanding the late start of the show and some rains, the show went on as planned. For those who were present at the show, they can really say the presence of God was felt at the Stadium.

All in all, the show was quite successful and the headline artiste, Sonnie Badu didn't disappoint on the night.

As advertised, Ron Kenoly was alive at the Stadium alongside other local Gospel artistes. However, of great concern to me is the absence of Ohemaa Mercy and Cwesi Oteng at the show. Surprisingly, two weeks after the show, nothing has been said by both Sonnie Badu and the artistes. Why didn't Ohemaa Mercy and Cwesi Oteng perform at Africa Worships with Sonnie Badu?

Deep-throat information gathered by your reliable Flex Newspaper indicates that the absence of these artistes at the show goes a long way to prove that all is not well between the artistes and Sonnie Badu. The artistes on one side feel Sonnie Badu does not respect them in any way which is a bit unfortunate.

Information Flex newspaper have indicates that when publicity on Africa Worships with Sonnie Badu commenced, even though Ohemaa Mercy was advertised to perform at the show, her management had never been consulted about her availability. When the attention of the organizers were drawn to that situation, an official email addressed by VM Consult was sent to the management of Ohemaa Mercy, Atlantic Productions  Ltd seeking for the services of Ohemaa Mercy for the concert.

Later on, the management of Ohemaa Mercy, Atlantic Productions Ltd wrote back to V.M Consult and made a demand in exchange for the services of Ohemaa Mercy. Of much importance was the initial amount of money to be paid to Ohemaa Mercy before VM Consult continues with the use of Ohemaa Mercy's name in the publicity and the amount to be paid to Ohemaa Mercy right before the concert.

Quite unfortunately, VM Consult never bothered to respond to Ohemaa Mercy's demand to the extent that two days to the show itself, the management of Ohemaa Mercy had to get in touch with VM Consult again but to no avail. Unfortunately, when the management of Ohemaa Mercy got in touch with Sonnie Badu personally, the response they had from Sonnie Badu was worse off.

Our reliable information has it that Sonnie Badu got annoyed and couldn't understand why Ohemaa Mercy would want to charge an amount of money (undisclosed) when she would only perform for a short while. I am reliably informed that the demand of Ohemaa Mercy's management was between 4,000 and 8,000 Ghana cedis for the concert.

Sonnie Badu's conduct was quite unchristian. If Sonnie Badu really respects our local Gospel artistes or Ohemaa Mercy to be specific, the best thing Sonnie Badu or VM Consult could have done was to negotiate for a reduction in the appearance fee but that was not done. Sonnie Badu felt it wise to totally ignore, snub and disregard Ohemaa Mercy. Without any doubt, I can confirm that the amount Ohemaa Mercy was requesting for isn't close to the amount Sonnie Badu charges for even a church appearance.

Due to the disrespect shown Ohemaa Mercy, she decided not to perform. For courtesy sake, VM Consult did not even get back to Ohemaa Mercy to find out why she didn't show up for the show. Doesn't this show that probably Ohemaa Mercy wasn't needed at the concert? Reliable information this writer chanced on also indicates that Cwesi Oteng also suffered a similar fate at the hands of Sonnie Badu and VM Consult.

Sonnie Badu is a well respected Gospel artiste. Of late, there have been so many negative reports about him. Flex newspaper would want to send a word of advice to him to be careful with his utterances and the way he treats our local Gospel artistes. He should treat them with respect.

By STEPHEN K. NAKUJAH