The National Cathedral Secretariat has refuted claims that it paid an amount of $50,000 to gospel musician Sonnie Badu, during the Fundraising Launch of the facility in the United States of America in 2019.
A statement signed by Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, the Executive Director of the National Cathedral of Ghana, reads: “There are reports of the payment of $50,000 to the singer Sonnie Badu for his performance at the launch of the National Cathedral Fundraising in Washington DC on February 8, 2019. The Secretariat of the National Cathedral has not paid any money, neither is it aware of any such payment, to Sonnie Badu.”
Earlier, there were reports on social media suggesting that the gospel musician had been paid such an amount.
An account on Twitter @cecil_kwabena posted: “I’m sure the handlers of @SonnieBaduuk will alert him to clear the air whether he allegedly took $50,000 for singing 5 minutes 15 seconds at the launch of Ghana National Cathedral in USA.”
Sonnie Badu replied to the tweet by saying: “Wow, thanks for alerting me, I was not given a dime… Not even a seat for me and my team. We stood outside.”
The ‘Baba’ singer later released a press statement through his management to this effect.
Sonnie’s management noted that the organizers of the fundraiser explained to the team that the programme was a charity event and that they would give them something, but he and his team left right after the performance.
Read Sonnie Badu’s statement below:
