I don’t need to be paid to educate public on coronavirus – Jackie Appiah

Actress Jackie Appiah is not looking for any monetary benefits before she helps educate the public on the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19).

She believes that it is the civic duty of celebrities to use their star power to help educate their fans and the public on the global pandemic which has claimed thousands of lives.

Answering a question on whether celebrities should be paid by the government to be ambassadors to educate the public on COVID-19, Jackie Appiah said money should not be the priority.

During regular press briefing on Wednesday, March 17 by the Information Ministry on the COVID-19 cases in Ghana, government was asked if it has planned to hire celebrities as ambassadors to educate the public on the pandemic.

The sector minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in his response, said, “We were thinking of having them as public education ambassadors or public education champions.”

“I later saw online stories that we have said we are going to use celebrity ambassadors and suggestions that we are going to pay some money. No, that is not happening,” he added.

Speaking in an interview on Showbiz 927 on 3FM with MzGee, Jackie Appiah, who says the Coronavirus has stalled her work, including movie premieres, said everyone should come on board to help the fight.

“We all need to educate each other…This is a global thing, it’s not just my industry alone. It’s quite sad…sometimes I use my platform to educate people,” she said.

The award-winning actress stressed, “I don’t need to wait for government; nobody needs to wait for anybody to call them. I think it is right for an individual to preach to people to talk to people that’s why we have the numbers. God has given us the numbers to educate people…everyone needs to educate people because people don’t understand [what is going on]”.

She reiterated that she does not need money from the government to support the campaign. “I’m doing this already for free right now nobody is paying me. I’m already doing it without being paid.”