<<Print>>

The Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has bombarded sponsors of the Hope City Concert, rLG communications for promoting the smoking of marijuana through Chris Brown instead of using the artiste to promote the company's made in Ghana products. Ghanaian owned telecommunication and technological company-rLG stands out in Africa with their outstanding products and immense support for Arts & Entertainment industry in Ghana. Despite their tremendous help to Ghana�s entertainment industry, the company�s decision to pay Chris Brown a whooping $1 million for stage a mega concert in Accra as part of activities marking the official unveiling of the �Hope City Project�, has been enormously criticized. Speaking on Adom FM, the outspoken senior journalist said, the technological company must be ashamed for bringing �such a person� to the country to promote marijuana smoking. �So they (rLG) used such an amount of money for such a person? Where are the rLG officials, are they not ashamed? There are good artistes here who can perform far better than what that guy (Chris Brown) did. They (Ghanaian artiste) don�t get any help from anyone, so if they (rLG) have one million dollars to celebrate Ghana�s 56th Independence Day, is Chris Brown that important to celebrate the day with?� he asked. He continued: �Where is Amakye Dede, where is Rex Omar and Amandzeba, where is Akosua Agyapong and the rest who are brilliant performers? They (rLG) can even use Akwaboa and Bob Cole (Highlife singers) and digitalize their old songs which signify our cultural history. That will rather help promote Ghana at the international level.� Instead of promoting the rLG or throwing in a word or two about the brand, Chris Brown decided to take the piss by promoting the use of marijuana when he knows or ought to know this is an illegal substance in many countries including Ghana, Kwesi Pratt added. Whiles performing one of his songs, he happily asked if there were weed smokers in Ghana and proceeded to say �if anybody�s tripping on you smoking weed, f**k them�. Half way through his 90-minute performance at the Accra Sports Stadium Tuesday night, Chris Brown quizzed the over a thousand crowd, �How many of y�all smoked wee?� After that question, the singer stated: �If anybody tripping on ya�ll smoking wee, f**k them.� The "Don�t Judge Me" hit singer then declared that: "Sh*t, I got my blunt right here� and pulled out a neatly rolled stick of marijuana, popularly called wee, lit the joint and drew in a large volume of smoke while a �mix tape� of �wee songs� played in the background. His own voice recorded earlier called out, �Chris, Chris.� Chris Brown agitated, asked, �Who the f**k is that?� The voice again said: �Wake up, what�s wrong with you?� Then he replied �What�s wrong with me, I am trying to get high.� The voice concluded: �Don�t do what I think [you going to do]. Don�t do it, it makes you crazy� by this time, the 24-year-old singer, born Christopher Maurice had lit the joint and drew in a large volume of smoke while a �mix tape� of �wee songs� played in the background. Probably goaded by his action, some patrons boldly pulled out their blunts and also started to smoke. The smell of marijuana and cigarettes filled the air. Kwesi Pratt however expressed dismay at Chris Brown�s performance in Ghana and described it as an insult to Ghanaians on the day of Ghana�s 56th birthday. �They (rLG) gave Chris Brown one million dollars to come and insult Ghanaians and imposed smoking of marijuana on us and afterwards, he just left. This is a disgrace to our independence,� he added. He further rubbished reports from Mrs Theresa Ayoade, CEO of Charter House that Chris Brown smoking on stage was an �act from a song�. �So does she (Theresa Ayowade) thinks she is saying something sensible to Ghanaians? So what she is saying, does it make sense at all or she wants us to jubilate over her reaction because she is part of the organizers? Is she saying Chris Brown acted the smoking to encourage the youth to smoke as well? Pratt rhetorically asked.