Gospel veteran Jack Alolome has questioned the notion that Gospel singers should not openly endorse political parties or figures.
“Why do people say that?” he asked, speaking to Nana Romeo on Okay FM.
He challenged the opinion that declaring his support for a political party could polarise his following, leading some astray.
“If anyone misses the way to heaven because of that, they desired and decided to backslide themselves,” he said.
He offered an alternative to decrying Gospel acts supporting political parties.
“Perhaps, we are using our influence to help save the country, when it is derailed,” he said.
Parting with the New Patriotic Party (NPP)
The singer acknowledged he once supported the NPP, being the child of “diehard NPP supporters”.
“But in 2016 – Sam Pyne, Dr Serebour, Lawyer Ohene Gyan, Kokofu, Nana B, Taabea, Kwame Adinkra – these were my friends and majority or 90% of them were NPP supporters. Taabea was a diehard supporter but he was not treated fairly. We used to meetup every Sunday at Yegoala [Hotel] in Kumasi,” he noted.
“If you’d remember there was an NPP programme at the Kumasi Sports Stadium, for which Sam Pyne asked me to come perform. I had to stop my programme at Breman Asikuma. We came and did a great performance – I was introduced by Lord Inusah. I performed and even created a song on the spot for the party. But after all that, whoever I called referred me to another person for payment for my crew. We were never paid.”
He lamented working and receiving no compensation when he had dropped everything he was doing to answer the call to perform at the event.
He argued that having served, his team was worthy of their pay, and he was not being greedy nor dishonourable for expecting such.
Joining the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
Jack Alolome said after the NPP’s great disappointment, “I was called by Honourable Armah Kofi Buah – you know he is a brother, we come from the same town. He informed me he was launching his campaign – that was in 2016 – and he wanted me to support him.
“On the day, the DJ struggled to play my song. I had to do acapella, and I did that on the stage for about five minutes. Afterwards, I went to my hotel. I was there when they came to thank me for gracing the occasion. When I checked the money, it was GHS20,000 – as at 2016. I put it on my bed, took a picture and sent it to my family, telling them this party was better and that we had to be with them instead.”
Defending Camp-switching
Alolome clarified he was not supporting the NDC because of personal gain, but had been inspired by the party’s sense of appreciation, contrasting Kofi Buah’s actions with Sam Pyne’s.
“The [NPP] party came to power and performed the worst, too,” he emphasised, assessing former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s performance, and defending his support for President John Mahama’s NDC.
He noted the NDC’s warm reception despite his support of the NPP in the past, savouring the privilege and “divine grace” bestowed on him to sing before President Mahama spoke.
He said during the eight-year tenure of Akufo-Addo, he recognised the ousted Mahama was better and had to return, “and that inspired my song Begye Yen (Come Save Us)”.
He narrated how Eric Adjei told him he and his boss, then the National NDC Communicator, Sammy Gyamfi, had noticed “there was power in the song” upon their first listen.
“They told me they loved the song. And truly, it made an impact,” Alolome added.
Expectations
He confessed his “education was not that deep enough” to expect grand appointments in government now that power had returned to the NDC. However, he highlighted he was open to “generous acts of kindness, and befitting contracts”.
