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Nana Addo endorsement: Why Sarkodie isn't smart (OPINION)

Sarkodie, one of the top five rappers in Ghana and admired across Africa, has always played smart with his diplomatic brand positioning and wily nature, but in actual sense, he isn’t that smart. He invariably employs his ‘two-sided’ tact – all in the name of non-partisanship – to manoeuvre his way through severe backlashes against his so-called ‘corporate brand’ and makes political gains for his selfish interest. However, this time, he played the wrong cards.

Sarkodie meets Nana Akufo-Addo

The three-time BET Awards nominee, in an attempt to use his antiquated cunning craft to announce his support for the New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, ahead of the forthcoming December polls released a 'motivational' song called “Happy Day" featuring Kuami Eugene.

In the song, he brazenly rendered an unqualified apology to Nana Akufo Addo for attacking his government with his records in the past and adjured his loyal fans to vote for him. Lasting 3:35 minutes, Sarkodie delivered three verses and obliquely dedicated a portion of his second verse to Nana Akufo Addo and his government. He started that verse with his usual brags and roped in a story of how a friend from an opulent background went broke and got arrested for theft before landing his endorsement. In his endorsement part, he indicated that nobody is a saint, thus he should be forgiven for attacking the government on inflation and ‘dumsor’ (load-shedding). He lauded Nana Addo for his free SHS initiative, claimed 'dumsor' is over (when it's not) and urged him to continue his governance. He ended the song with the President’s famous campaign slogan: “The battle is still the Lord’s”.

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Fans of the SarkCess Music label owner were divided over the song – obviously for taking sides ahead of the forthcoming December polls. Their reaction isn't first in history – and Sarkodie isn’t the first musician to endorse a politician or a political party. Nevertheless, his outmoded crafty approach to his endorsement is the bone of contention.

A few hours after "Happy Day" was released, Nan Akufo-Addo liked it and endorsed in a tweet, saying: “Nice song, Sarkodie and Kuami Eugene. Indeed, the battle is still the Lord’s.”

But in his cunning attempt to save his 'corporate brand' and name (as he always does), he slammed the President saying, he shouldn’t take advantage of the song for his political gain. He also clarified that the word ‘aban’ which he used in his lyrics refers to all political parties in Ghana and not the NPP government.

“Nana M3nfa bronya ho nwe akoko oo lool !! when I say aban (all parties) Shouts to yourself x JM but if I feel like pointing out the negatives too you know how we do,” Sarkodie tweeted.

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He sought to play smooth, but he looked feeble-minded. The word ‘aban’ in the Akan dialect, means ‘government’ (mostly refers to the incumbent government), and in his context, he was referring to the NPP, because it is the incumbent government. That is where he thought he was smart, but in actual sense, he sounded irrational. He understands the language better than some of us because it’s his mother tongue. So, why use the word and make a u-turn?

To be honest, he is running away from his endorsement because he is afraid of the backlash. He rolls with the NPP more than any other political party in Ghana. He has openly supported their ideologies and some of their projects. The most recent one was when he openly endorsed Nana Addo’s government’s online passport application portal last month.

When Nana Addo tweeted: “The online passport application, implemented by the NPP Government, has made it possible for Ghanaians to apply for or renew their passports from the comfort of their homes”, Sarkodie responded by saying: “Was looking forward to this ... About time. Anything towards the right direction we support though there’s a lot to be fixed”.

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Nobody can crucify Sarkodie for endorsing any political party or making a campaign song for a political party. When Shatta Wale released “Mahama Paper” during the 2016 general elections, even the NPP jammed to it. But Sarkodie's attempt to separate himself from his own open endorsement of the NPP presidential candidate renders him fatuous and coward, and if he is smart enough, he will delete those tweets.

Pulse Editor's Opinion is the opinion of an editor of Pulse. It does not represent the opinion of the organisation Pulse.

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