The Director for Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Edwin Owusu Mensah, has stated that the appointment of some celebrities as

Actors, John Dumelo, Abraham Attah and radio presenter, Abeiku Santana have been announced Tourism Ambassadors for the country but some have asserted that Dumelo and Abeiku Santana were named because of their support for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The two have openly stated that they are for the NDC. While Dumelo has been spotted at the party’s rallies, Abeiku Santana decided to contest NDC Parliamentary primaries in the Mfansteman East constituency in the Central Region but rescinded his decision later.

After news of their appointment went viral, some have speculated that it was to reward them for supporting the party.

But Mr Owusu Mensah on Joy FM’s Rhythmz A-Z debunked the assertions. According to him, appointing these celebrities is in the interest of the country.

He believes the showbiz personalities will help encourage the populace to visit tourist sites in Ghana.

“It’s not job for the boys. First of all, I think the first criterion is that the person must be a Ghanaian. The person must be a celebrity and I believe all three are celebrities in their own right. I believe the reasons behind the appointment of Ambassadors for Tourism is very simple. We always talk about domestic tourism and the fact that Ghanaians don’t travel to beautiful tourist sites in the country so we decided that we choose ambassadors who will then lead the way for Ghanaians to visit our sites,” he said.

“Most of them have huge following on social media so we are using that as one of the marketing strategies to get Ghanaians to visit tourist sites,” Mr Owusu Mensah added.