Shatta Wale has come out about two or three times in the past, mainly through his publicist, that he is not keen on endorsing any particular party this election cycle, and that he just wants to concentrate on his peace campaign for the entire nation.
Yet despite his public denials of not endorsing any party, the ruling National Democratic Congress have continued to use his hit single ‘Mahama Paper’ at virtually every single campaign event.
After one or two denials, Shatta made a cryptic post on social media last week that raised our suspicions that he has perhaps decided to ‘endorse’ one party anyway. He wrote:
Towards the end of that article, we noted that this new stance for Shatta – that he’s ready to perform for any party for business – perhaps signalled that he’s already into business with the NDC.
We wrote:
Shatta has always maintained that he’s only concentrated on his peace campaign and not petty politics. This makes it obvious that perhaps he’s already signed a deal with the NDC and this is just his way of preparing the waters for the announcement. Watch this space.
Of course, it didn’t take long for a sort of confirmation to arrive. Speaking on Kasapa Fm Monday, Shatta, instead of sounding pissed at the continuous use of his song without his permission, rather sounded grateful that the NDC were using his song, calling it ‘a miracle’.
“The use of my song as the official campaign song of the NDC is one of the miracles of God. If I’ve played a song and the President who is ruling Ghana is using it for his campaign then I don’t have a problem with that.” Shatta said.
“In the same way the NPP can also get a song that they will use to do their campaign. This should tell everyone that my fans are not only on the street or the radio presenters but I have fans when it comes to the political industry. So if Mahama is using it for his campaign…the reward comes from God, so we leave everything to God.” he added.
That sounds a lot like a guy who’s pleased his song is being used, rather than furious that his warnings are being unheeded. It looks a lot like the NDC have the rights to use ‘Mahama Paper’ – and perhaps even some money exchanged hands.
However, Shatta continued to deny that he has sold the song.
“I’ve not sold the song, as for me Shatta, I’m doing my job…for instance if the NPP calls on me to perform at their function I will do that, if the NDC also calls on me, I’ll do same but I will not do that to endorse any political party, or ask my fans to vote for this party or that one because the votes lie with the people, they will decide.”