Popular Ghanaian Multiple Award Winning Actress, Philanthropist and Entrepreneur, Jackie Appiah has stated that she does not need to be paid to be a public education ambassador for the novel coronavirus.
Last week, there were reports that the government was seeking some public figures for paid ambassadorial duties on cover-19. However, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, during a press briefing, indicated that they “were thinking of having them as public education ambassadors or public education champions.”
“Government doesn’t intend to pay any celebrity to go out there to become ambassadors for COVID-19. I mentioned in our meeting with the GJA, NMC etc. that we were also thinking of having persons with large following share our messages,” he added. Speaking in an interview 3FM, Jackie Appiah stressed the need for everyone to come on board and help educate the populace on the virus.
“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 said.
“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. “I’m doing this already for free right now nobody is paying me. I’m already doing it without being paid, she added.”
Some celebrities including Jackie Appiah, Lydia Forson, Deborah Vanessa, Edem, Shatta Wale, John Dumelo and a host of others, have stepped up to help stop the spread of the virus by sharing safety measures with their followers on social media.
