Renowned Ghanaian YouTuber and content creator, Wode Maya, has addressed the backlash that followed the foreign ministry’s plans to give American streamer IShowSpeed a Ghanaian passport.

He described the situation as a misunderstanding that has been overly politicised.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM on January 29, 2026, Wode Maya mentioned that the popular streamer has genuine African roots and has consistently used his platform to project a positive image of Africa to the world.

According to him, IShowSpeed’s recent visit and expressions of identifying as African and by extension Ghanaian were part of a broader effort to reconnect with his roots and change negative narratives about the continent.

“I’ve seen all the noise that has been happening after the passport but the thing is, the guy has a Ghanaian route. He’s someone who’s on that journey to change the negative narrative of Africa,” he said.

He compared IShowSpeed’s influence to his own, noting that the streamer operates on a much larger global scale and therefore deserved to be recognised.

“I feel like IShowSpeed did it on a larger scale, which he deserved to be honoured. Honouring him by welcoming him home and he wanted to say that he’s 100% African so let’s say he’s 100% Ghanaian,” he shared.

Wode Maya further disclosed that he personally reached out to a government minister to explore the possibility of officially honouring the streamer but logistical challenges prevented it from happening at the time.

“The Minister had no idea. I pleaded with him that it would be good for him to honour him. The time he had responded, the guy had already left. We wanted to do it while we were streaming, but the Minister was on plane so he didn’t see the message early,” he stated.

Foreign affairs ministry approves Ghanaian passport for IShowSpeed

He noted that the Minister later apologised upon landing for the delayed response, adding that the gesture could still be considered in the future.

“The moment he landed, he apologised for not seeing the message on time because he was on plane. I told him it’s fine but if he still wants to do it, let’s do it for him,” he explained.

Commenting on the public reaction, Wode Maya lamented what he described as Ghana’s tendency to politicise national issues, which he believes slows down development.

“In this country, everyone likes to politicise everything, which makes our development slack a little bit,” he said.

He called for national unity and support for leadership, regardless of political affiliation.

“I wish we could all put our strength behind the person who’s leading the country now to develop it and when the next person comes, we do the same thing,” he noted.

Highlighting the potential tourism and branding benefits, Wode Maya stressed the global impact of IShowSpeed’s influence.

“Imagine 50 million people following one person. I have 2 million and I have a diplomatic passport so someone with 50 million, a normal passport is a big deal and him going around to say he’s a Ghanaian, we will see the number of people who will be coming in here,” he added.


FG/EB


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