The organizers of the Women in Worship concert, Genet Services, have announced intentions to pursue legal action against Nigerian gospel artist Ada Ehi. This development arises from the artist’s failure to appear at the concert, scheduled for Sunday, September 22, 2024, despite receiving a partial payment of $5,000.
Ada Ehi had been billed to perform in Ghana alongside fellow Nigerian gospel artiste Mercy Chinwo, as well as Ghanaian artistes Empress Gifty and Diana Hamilton as headliners.
In an interview with Feeling Daddy on Empire FM’s Showbiz Today, Nana Asare, in charge of Media and Communications for Women in Worship, explained that working with Ada Ehi’s team proved challenging from the outset, particularly with regards to her performance fee.
“We had a conversation with Ada’s team to book her for the event; they agreed and provided a cost. However, after promotional materials were released, her manager informed us they were increasing the fee to $10,000 from an original fee of $8000,despite our initial partial payment of $5,000. They claimed they were unaware that other gospel artists were on the bill and that it was a gated event. We immediately agreed to the change,” Asare recounted.
Following this, communication with Ehi’s manager became sporadic, forcing Genet Services to route discussions through a third party in Ghana with connections to Ada Ehi. Further complications arose with her travel arrangements. Genet Services had booked a round-trip flight from London to Ghana for her, costing over €4,700. According to Asare, on the day she was supposed to arrive, Ehi missed her flight, citing unforeseen circumstances.
“We rebooked a one-way ticket from London to Accra and informed her team that she could use the original return flight. However, her team insisted that we book another round-trip ticket, which we refused due to the added expense,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ada Ehi’s band had already arrived in Ghana and attended rehearsals. Asare detailed that the following morning, Ada’s band unexpectedly vacated their Airbnb accommodation without explanation, causing concern among the organizers.
“on Sunday morning, when a team of ours was going to visit them at the Airbnb , we got the information that her band had moved out of the Airbnb, they’ve picked taxies in the morning and moved out. So at a point we were worried that, where could they have gone to? Because for them, also, we paid in and out flight tickets”.
“The disparity was only around the ticket, as we had met every other requirement. The Airbnb we provided for Ada was the same place Mercy Chinwo and her band slept,”he noted.
Attempts to resolve the situation amicably also proved futile. Asare stated that Ada Ehi’s team initially agreed to a refund but later claimed the $5,000 payment would be retained as “expenditure.”
“ As the conversation went further they said they are going to use the $5000 we paid her as expenditure , What did they spend? And who caused them to spend that money? Because we booked you, we made arrangement for your flight. You didn’t board any flight. You didn’t travel to Ghana, your team that came. We booked the flight for them in and out. We gave them Airbnb to sleep the Saturday they came, we provided food and everything for them.”
Asare emphasized that while Empress Gifty performed without a fee and Mercy Chinwo accommodated a missed flight without demands, Ehi’s team had been uncooperative. He questioned the artist’s priorities, asking, “Is she into ministry or business?”
With no resolution in sight, Genet Services plans to proceed with legal action to address the financial losses incurred.
Source : Ghana/starrfm.com.gh/103.5Joseph Kobina Amuah
