Mayor bans concerts following deaths at Fancy Gadam event

The reported deaths happened when a vehicle lost control and hit another vehicle in Fancy Gadam’s convoy, which was on its way to welcome Nigerian star Patoranking. Many sustained injuries and the death toll was given as eight. Entertainment company Zylofon lost two staff members in the accident.

“We are not going to allow him to take the whole Tamale to ransom,” Tamale mayor Iddrisu Musah Superior said. “I have spoken to him, I have spoken to his managers…but [they] won’t listen. This young man’s talent is a danger to the people of Tamale."

Fancy Gadam has seen his popularity rise over the past year and won in the Most Popular Song category at this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. To celebrate his win, many residents of Tamale took to the streets to welcome the ‘Total Cheat’ singer.

Publicity for a 30 June concert featuring Patoranking had taken weeks but was cancelled by the star after the accident.

“My heart is heavy right now,” he wrote on his Facebook on 29 June. “Words can’t describe how I feel. I am sorry to announce to you that my show with Patoranking scheduled to come of tomorrow has been postponed indefinitely... I can’t lose my fans and still have the heart to stage a show.”

On 1 July, he posted another note, which thanked the concert sponsor for its assistance and offered condolences to Xylofon. “This is a period of grief and mourning for all my fans and the Gadam Nation at large and I want to use this opportunity to thank all my fans and sympathies for standing by me shoulder to shoulder,” he wrote.

The concert ban at the stadium remains in effect. “Why would you want to mobilise people? Superior asked during a radio interview. "To make a profit? You want to use the blood of the people to make money.

"I have banned all musical concerts at the stadium. No musical concerts until further notice. We are not going to allow that. He was not coming to pay a courtesy call on my disciplined chiefs. They were all over the place, blocked the streets. A lot of indiscipline on the streets.”