Veteran actors help campaign altruistic – Mr Beautiful

Kumawood actor Clement Bonney, referred to in local entertainment circles as Mr Beautiful, has denied talk that his rally for support for retired Ghanaian actors, musicians, comedians, and other entertainers is motivated by personal gain and not borne out of a genuine desire to lend a hand to their welfare and to ensure that younger artistes do not suffer the same fate during retirement.

Mr Beautiful has been accused by some colleagues in the entertainment sector of riding on the back of the ill health of notable personalities in Ghana’s showbiz industry, who are struggling financially, to solicit money from the presidency to line his pocket. A known supporter of the governing National Democratic Congress, the actor was recently alleged to have pocketed some $20,000 donated by the presidency towards improving the welfare of such struggling entertainers.

However, in an interview with Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Friday June 24, Mr Beautiful denied he was in the campaign to make profit. He said he had been invited by President John Mahama to undertake such action when it came to his attention that a lot of aged Ghanaian actors and actresses were living in hard times, a call he regarded as a “blessing”.

“If the president of the land has called you, saying: ‘I know you are the only actor to have come out openly to support everything [about the NDC], not bothering even when you are criticised, then let me send you’, is that not a blessing?” he asked.

“So, if it’s personal interest, when I was supporting the NDC on the campaign trail [in 2012], did I have no personal interest? Had it been motivated by personal interest, I wouldn’t have shown up when he [Mr Mahama] invited me; I would be in my office…”

In Beautiful’s view the Ghana Actors’ Guild had failed to ensure the welfare of actors, as many veterans had been reduced to paupers, with some dying prematurely in undignified circumstances. He mentioned the example of actress Araba Stamp, who, he revealed lodged in a kiosk at the Arts Centre in Accra in the years leading up to her demise, as well as the death of actor Nii Odoi Mensah following his inability to raise money for treatment of a kidney ailment in China.

Mr Beautiful also touched on the case of another actor, William Addo, who is experiencing problems with his sight, as he struggles to raise money for surgery, while McJordan Amartey had lost both legs to diabetes and was dependent on his children for sustenance.

He continued that he took the decision to campaign for the NDC in 2012 as he had seen “something better” in its manifesto, and called on Ghanaians to rather support the president to help such artistes before he exits.

“…If God has offered us President Mahama as benefactor so we do not become paupers one day, please support him. Please say something good about it so this man can do something for us before his eight years in office are up,” he pleaded.