A number of civil society organizations (CSOs) have condemned the cigar-smoking pictures of popular musician known in showbiz circles as Sarkodie.
They said:
“We are very disappointed in Sarkodie for circulating pictures of himself smoking a cigar on social media without considering the negative influence this singular act stands to have on the public, especially the youth, most of whom consider him as their role model.”
The CSOs are the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), the Ghana Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (Ghana NCD Alliance), Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health (MATCOH), Jaishi Initiative, and the Community Health Support Team (CHEST).
It called on Sarkodie to desist from the act in both his pictures and music videos to avoid indirectly ushering innocent youth into smoking, which had no benefit to humans.
“We are also by this statement calling on the singer to render an apology to all Ghanaians, especially the youth, for such a distasteful act that has the propensity of changing behaviour of our youth from good to bad and pledge to support and promote the health and well-being of all,’’ the statement said.
