I spent $300,000 on ‘cancelled' The Convention event – Cheddar

Presidential hopeful, Nana Kwame Bediako, also known as Cheddar or Freedom Jacob Caesar, has said that he spent $300,000 to organise his outfit, New Africa Foundation’s ‘The Convention’ programme, which was stopped by national security hours before it started.

According to Cheddar, all of his investments into the programme, which was to bring in renowned African intellectuals to give hope to the people of Ghana, was thwarted for no reason.

Speaking in an interview on TV3, on Thursday, January 11, 2024, the presidential hopeful said that organisers of the event were paid $150,000 and the remaining $150,000, which could even be more, was used to bring in the speakers, the artists and other logistics for the event.

“I am kind of confused and I trying to ask the nation, I want the nation to put themselves in my shoes. Because I’m going by the law… and I go and invest $300,000 into an event, into something that would inspire the nation and they just come and tear it down.

“… we even asked for protocol help and then paid for security and 80 policemen were assigned. But they came back the very day and started pulling everything down… I don’t know how to say it for you to understand my pain because that investment can also take care of my children,” he said.

He added, “The show itself was costing us $150,000 and then all the other logistics, bringing people in and other people who are performing and all of that, cost the rest.”

Cheddar also said that the treatment of the African leaders who were in the country to speak at his event has dented the image of Ghana.

“We brought four Africans who have spoken and spent three decades of their lives fighting for a better Africa, we brought them into Ghana to speak to the youth and to speak to the continent, the person that was behind the event is a Ghanaian… watch how all of us were attacked,” he said.

BAI/AE

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