Actor, Kwaku Manu
Kumasi-based actor Kwaku Manu has called on the government to dole out money to Ghanaian entertainers in the acting space to ease their suffering as they are unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing protocols put in place to prevent further spread of the virus in the country.
“I think the government should try and visit actors and give us money because in this Covid-19 era you cannot invite an actor to shoot a movie. A while ago, we were crying for a film village but this time we can’t even shoot a movie because the production crew alone is about 15 people apart from the actors, so, it has kept many industry players at home,” Kwaku Manu said.
Speaking in an interview with Nana Kwesi Asare on The Big Show on Class91.3FM on Saturday 11 July 2020, he noted that: “It is difficult for us so the government should come to our aid. He should surprise us with something like ‘Kwaku what is your account number and send me like GHS30,000 I can manage it’”.
Apart from the coronavirus, Kwaku Manu noted that actors have other financial responsibilities that put a lot of burden on them.
Explaining what he meant, he said: “Everywhere in the world, everyone knows I’m Kwaku Manu and in Ghana as soon as you appear on a Television everyone thinks you are a billionaire. You become famous and popular but how much are we paid? Our families depend on us aside from that some fans depend on us too.
“There are fans, people you don’t even know who will be at your home begging for money to for example take her sick child to the hospital. I get all these requests and so sometimes when I’m home I don’t want anyone to know I’m home.”