Popular Ghanaian stand-up comedian and TV presenter, Derrick Kobina Bonney, also known as DKB has lambasted the Gaming Commission of Ghana and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for their ban on using celebrities to endorse betting and alcoholic products.

Speaking on a Q&A session with TV3, DKB argued the ban on the use of celebrities to advertise betting by the Gaming Commission. According to him, the ban was pointless as children are still being exposed to betting advertisements through other formats.

“It's just sad, it's like being a celebrity in Ghana is an act of treason. Where the whole country is against you. Not only the FDA. The Gaming Commission says celebrities shouldn’t promote gaming and betting because it corrupts children. Fine, but we still have betting ads on billboards on TVs and radios and online. Don’t children go online? You said such ads should be shown after 8 pm, but children are still awake after 8 pm. They see billboards in town. It's ridiculous,” he said.

He further reiterated his stance that the FDA ban was imposed without any proper research and evidence. He added that the ban was an attempt to impoverish Ghanaian celebrities and argued that celebrities should rather be used by the FDA to educate children on the proper use of alcohol.

“It's terrible if you take actions like this, you deny people their daily bread. Such decisions should be based on empirical facts and data. There's no research conducted where kids say they've had alcohol because they're not allowed to have alcohol.

“In any case, if you want to protect children, it is the celebrities who you need to use to protect children. We need to tell children not to consume alcohol because it’s for 18 and above, don't do this, don't do that. They listen to us more.

“But if you are going to deny us our daily bread because of irresponsible times, how is that fair? But you get to keep your job, while we lose our jobs. And the painful part is that these jobs are moving to Nigerian celebrities,” he said.

Background

In October 2020, The Ghana Gaming Commission banned betting companies from using celebrities in their advertisement or as ambassadors.

The decision, they have explained, is due to the increasing number of celebrities endorsing betting companies - an action many say could lure young fans into gambling.

“Operators shall not use celebrities in their advertisements to entice the general public to gamble,” the statement read.

This came after the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in 2015 banned the use of celebrities for the advertisement of alcoholic products. The directive ordered that “no well-known personality or professional shall be used in alcoholic beverage advertising.”

The FDA ban, however, triggered a lawsuit by music producer, Mark Darlington Osae, who argued that the ban was a “discrimination against persons on grounds of social or economic status, or occupation, among others, and consequently null, void, and unenforceable.”.

The case is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on January 17.

Check the video

Comedian @dkbghana expresses his opinion on the ban on celebrities, influencers and content creators endorsing alcoholic beverages.#3Entertainment #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/NGs231kM7z

— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) November 24, 2023