Ghana’s Afua Aduonum fails Guinness World Record attempt

The endeavour, which spanned five days from December 24 to December 29 at Akwaaba Village in Accra, saw her singing for a total of 126 hours and 52 minutes. 

The current singathon record is held by Sunil Waghmare of India achieved in Nagpur from 3 March to 7 March 2012. Aduonum sought to sing for over 117 hours and perform more than 3 200 Ghanaian songs spanning a range of genres.

However, Guinness World Records disclosed last week that Aduonum’s attempt was not successful due to “guidelines around rest break timings not being met,” adding: “These rules are standard across all of our ‘longest marathon’ records.”

Aduonum’s December record attempt garnered widespread support across Ghaana, with renowned local popstars like Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, KiDi, Kuami Eugene, Cina Soul and Efya, among others, showing their encouragement. Respected dignitaries, including Ghana’s Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia and the Lebanese ambassador to Ghana Maher Kheir, were also present to lend their support.

In the same month, pending verification, Aduonum, a broadcast journalist and event organiser, was announced as a tourism ambassador by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in acknowledgement of the impact of her singathon on the country’s reputation.

GTA said: “You are going to be one of the people championing to the whole world that there’s a country called Ghana, it’s a lovely place to be, they have great people who are resilient, who are tenacious, who have drive, who have talent.” 

Following the latest development, Aduonum has revealed in a statement that she would announce her next line of action in a few days.