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DjQwequ Blog of Sunday, 17 August 2025
Source: Emmanuel Jacob Amissah
Renowned Ghanaian entertainment critic and media consultant, Kelly Nii Lartey Mensa, has raised concerns over a common practice among performing artistes, cautioning rapper Sarkodie and his management to take the matter seriously.
In a strongly-worded post, Kelly highlighted the health risks associated with artistes handing over their microphones to fans during performances and later taking them back to continue their act. He noted that while artistes prioritize their personal security by employing heavily built bodyguards, they often ignore the bigger threat of health and safety on stage.
“Artistes will take huge muscled bodyguards and protect their space on stage, only to give their mics to fans in the audience to sing along, and after they take them back and use the same mic,” he wrote.
According to Kelly, this habit exposes performers to dangerous infections and diseases, especially in a time when contagious illnesses like Ebola, COVID-19, Monkeypox, Flu, and other transmissible conditions are a global concern.
He referenced the recent advisory from the University of Ghana on COVID-19 protocols and stressed the need for artistes to be more responsible when interacting with fans.
“I’m not saying don’t engage with your audience during performance, but get a separate mic for Jesus’sake! You might as well go around and give everyone a mouth-to-mouth engagement if you want to share chicken pox with everyone after the performance,” he cautioned.
Kelly Mensa further called for the entertainment industry to take stage security and health safety to a higher notch, urging artistes to balance fan engagement with personal and public health concerns.
Despite his concerns, he ended his post by reaffirming his admiration for Sarkodie, describing him as “Obidi Hova.”
