Afua Asantewaa and her husband, Kofi Aduonum
Kofi Aduonum, the husband of Afua Asantewaa, has appealed to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to honour his wife after her Guinness World Record attempt for the longest singing marathon in the world was unsuccessful.
According to him, Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt has helped to project Ghana to the international community due to the attention and recognition she gained globally.
He went ahead to assert that even though his wife’s sing-a-thon attempt was unsuccessful, the effort she made for the country deserves to be honoured by naming a structure after her.
Speaking in an interview with JoyPrime TV, monitored by GhanaWeb, Kofi Aduonum noted that he would be pleased if his wife, Afua Asantewaa, is named after a space in the country to serve as a tourist site.
“My appeal to the tourism ministry or government is that the Akwaaba Village is a perfect name but I think it's high time we honoured my wife [Afua Asntewaa]. They should give her space, maybe Asantewaa's stage or Asantewaa's corner, to serve as a tourist site.
"Those who watched it on TV, anytime they visit Accra, I believe will find a way to come and have a look at it to see what she did. It's a personal appeal but I believe it should be considered,” he said.
This comes after Guinness World Records, through its official social media handle, announced that Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was not successful.
This was after a tweep tweeted at the organisation inquiring about the outcome after Afua Asantewaa's statement that she had paid $750 to expedite action.
“Unfortunately Afua's Guinness World Records attempt for the longest singing marathon was not successful, but we hope that she will make another attempt soon. We've seen how inspirational it has been for her fans.
"The evidence check had already begun before Afua requested priority service, so we refunded her payment earlier this month. We wish Afua the best of luck with any future record attempts," the tweet from GWR said.
The news was met with mixed reactions from the public, as some individuals expressed their disappointment in Afua Asantewaa for not relaying the outcome of her sing-a-thon attempt earlier until Guinness World Records made the announcement.
Critics are convinced that Asantewaa intentionally refrained from disclosing her unsuccessful attempt, and believe her decision to withhold this information, despite the substantial support she received from Ghanaians, constitutes an act of dishonesty.
About the sing-a-thon
On December 24, Asantewaa embarked on a mission to break the Guinness World Record for the longest singing marathon.
She was the toast of December in GH as she sang for 126 hours and 52 minutes. She initially planned to end on 27th December; however, after consultation with her team, she decided to sing continuously for five days.
The event which took place at the Akwaaba Village in Accra, near the Kotoka International Airport, saw thousands in attendance in their bid to support her and be part of history.
A tall list of showbiz personalities including Nana Ama McBrown, Kwabena Kwabena, Efya, Sista Afia, Afronitaa, Delay, Cina Soul, Clemento Suarez, Akuapem Poloo, Lawyer Nti, Piesie Esther and OB Amponsah also thronged the venue demonstrating their collective support for the event.
The commentaries were overwhelmingly positive, with people consistently applauding and encouraging her to forge ahead in her impressive endeavour.
Why Asantewaa was disqualified
In a response to an email by JoyFM's Kwame Dadzie probing into the disqualification, the entity stated that Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was unsuccessful because the guidelines around rest break timings were not met.
In the statement by the PR Executive for the Guinness World Records, Alina Polianskaya, spotted by GhanaWeb, it was established that these are standard rules that couldn’t have been overlooked.
“Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was not successful due to guidelines around rest break timings not being met. These rules are standard across all of our ‘longest marathon’ records. We've seen how inspirational it has been for her fans…We wish Afua the best of luck with any future record attempts," the statement contained.
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