Award-winning musician, Okyeame Kwame has dismissed any perception about Ghanaian celebrities living lavish lifestyles.
According to the musician, the group of persons who have displayed extravagant lifestyles are rather politicians.
His comment follows the Economic and Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO) intention to launch lifestyle audits targeting celebrities and individuals suspected of possessing unjustifiable wealth.
On the contrary, the ‘Yeeko’ hit maker said celebrities are faced with financial difficulties because they do not earn enough to live extravagant lifestyles.
“I have been in the celebrity space for 20 something years, I do not think they will find any artiste who are “criminals” or many celebs and film makers because these people are suffering. It is very difficult to be in this industry as an influencer or artiste and then just by that be able to survive. I have not seen celebrities in Ferraris or Maybachs or Porsche cars or multimillion dollar mansions. Where are they? Show me one.
“However, the people that I have seen living lavishly are politicians. I have seen civil servants who make maybe ₵14000 a month and driving S-class,” he told Berla Mundi on TV3’s New Day on Monday.
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He explained that it is only out of their accumulated savings that they go on holidays outside of Ghana once a while.
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Okyeame Kwame urged EOCO to rather focus more on politicians who are likely to fall victim of its intended strategy to deal with corruption in the country.
“They are going to start investigating celebrities and in less than 30 days, they will be done because it is obvious that there are no or very few celebrities who are enjoying unwarranted wealth,” he noted.
However, the musician said he is excited with this decision by EOCO to forestall integrity in the country.
EOCO’s decision comes after the recent guilty plea by Ghanaian social media influencer and musician Mona Montrage, also known as Hajia4reall, in a $2 million romance scam case.
“We are leading the charge by ourselves, making certain proposals for the amendment of the law to align with international standards. This ensures that any gaps in your financial profile are substantiated by your earnings.
“Any disparities must be clarified to law enforcement, and the burden of proof rests on the individual to explain the origin of those resources,” the head of Administration and Investigations at EOCO, Edward Cudjoe disclosed to JoyNews in an interview.
EOCO’s new strategy is expected to deal with the proliferation of unexplained enrichment and illicit wealth making activities in the country.