INTERNATIONALLY-acclaimed Ghanaian reggae and afro pop artiste, Rocky Dawuni sung his heart out last Saturday in support of efforts to bring an end to the spread of guinea worm in the country.
Although the concert served as this year’s version of Rocky Dawuni’s annual Independence Splash, which is organised by Africa LIVE, the main agenda was to inspire the residents of Tamale to join hands in saying goodbye to guinea worm.
Quite a number of reggae funs were at the Tamale Sports Stadium to show solidarity with the Ghanaian reggae icon and to demonstrate their support for the guinea worm eradication programme.
Rocky, spotted in his brown loose-top and white trousers, mounted the stage some minutes past 12:00pm and sparked the audience into some spontaneous reggae-style boogie as he delivered his African Reggae Fever, one of the notable songs on his latest album, Hymns for the Rebel Soul.
He also unleashed some of his popular songs, including Master Plan, Download the Revolution, Africa for Learn and Extraordinary Woman much to the delight of the audience.
Rocky’s rendition of his hit-song In Ghana, which actually brought him into limelight, was the icing on the cake as it turned the stadium into a jamboree, forcing Rocky Dawuni to step down from the stage to join the dancing crowd.
In fact, not only did Rocky sing, but he also gave out words of advice to the patrons of the show to be observant and report any case of guinea worm to health authorities for swift response.
“For long, we have suffered under the spell of this disease and we are about to win the war against this disease, so it is in our interest to support the eradication efforts,” he stated.
Prior to his performance, Northern hip-life artistes George Cliff and Lil Malik, as well as reggae icons, Blakk Rasta and Sherif Ghale, put up some exciting performances to warm up the audience.
An out of the blue performance by little Sophia and Aisha gave the concert a sweet childhood appeal, as they gave a lovely rendition of Rocky’s Take it slow (love, love, love), with Aisha playing on the guitar.
Their performance was greeted with a round of applause by the audience, who, apparently, were not expecting that side attraction.
Interestingly, Sophia, who is eight years, is the daughter of Rocky Dawuni, whiles 12 year-old Aisha is the daughter of Dr Sule Gariba, a board member of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
Meanwhile, in spite of the hype the concert enjoyed in the local media some days before the show, many of the patrons wondered why the show was poorly attended.
“I had expected to come and see a large crowd at the stadium, but I must admit that I am disappointed,” Ms Kanita Abdul-Somed told the Showbiz.
The concert was sponsored by UNICEF, European Union, The Carter Center and supported by other partners, including the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, CityLink Airlines, Gariba Lodge, Elike Dezigns and Naturel Soap.
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