Afua Asantewaa, the Ghanaian singer who aimed to break the Guinness World Record for the longest singing marathon, has provided clarification on the delayed announcement of her disqualification to the public.
She explained that she was unable to access her Guinness World Records account when the outcome of her singing marathon attempt was revealed, resulting in her learning about it when it became public knowledge.
During an interview with GhOne TV, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Afua Asantewaa encouraged the public to ignore any rumors suggesting that she intentionally withheld information about the results of her singing marathon attempt.
“Regardless of whether it’s successful or unsuccessful, I would have shared it with Ghanaians. So I spoke about a miscommunication with GWR… It had to do with my login account; I don’t have access. So as I sit here, I don’t have official documents to even post on my social media. I can’t access my account.
“So, that is the reason why they went ahead of me to comment on somebody’s post and it went viral. I think that I haven’t disappointed Ghanaians. The only disappointment may be that they didn’t hear it from me first, which I apologize, is beyond my control,” she said.
Guinness Word Records through its official social media handle announced that Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was not successful.
This was after a tweep had tweeted at the organisation inquiring about the outcome after Afua Asantewaa’s statement that she had paid $750 to expedite action.
“Unfortunately Afua’s Guinness World Records attempt for the longest singing marathon was not successful, but we hope that she will make another attempt soon. We’ve seen how inspirational it has been for her fans.
“The evidence check had already begun before Afua requested priority service, so we refunded her payment earlier this month. We wish Afua the best of luck with any future record attempts,” the tweet from GWR said.
The news was met with mixed reactions from the public as some individuals expressed their disappointment in Afua Asantewaa for not relaying the outcome of her sing-a-thon attempt earlier until Guinness World Records made the announcement.
Certain individuals in the public, convinced that Asantewaa intentionally refrained from disclosing her unsuccessful attempt, believe her decision to withhold this information, despite the substantial support she received from Ghanaians, constitutes an act of dishonesty.
On December 24, Asantewaa embarked on a mission to break the Guinness World Record for the longest singing marathon. She was the toast of December in GH as she sang for 126 hours and 52 minutes. She initially planned to end on 27th December; however, after consultation with her team, she decided to sing continuously for five days.
The event which took place at the Akwaaba Village in Accra, near the Kotoka International Airport, saw thousands in attendance in their bid to support her and be part of history.
A tall list of showbiz personalities including Nana Ama McBrown, Kwabena Kwabena, Efya, Sista Afia, Afronitaa, Delay, Cina Soul, Clemento Suarez, Akuapem Poloo, Lawyer Nti, Piesie Esther and OB Amponsah also thronged the venue demonstrating their collective support for the event.
The commentaries were overwhelmingly positive, with people consistently applauding and encouraging her to forge ahead in her impressive endeavor.
In a response to an email by JoyFM’s Kwame Dadzie probing into the disqualification, the entity stated that Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was unsuccessful because the guidelines around rest break timings were not met.
In the statement by the PR Executive for the Guinness World Records, Alina Polianskaya, spotted by GhanaWeb, it was established that these are standard rules that couldn’t have been overlooked.
“Afua Asantewaa’s sing-a-thon attempt was not successful due to guidelines around rest break timings not being met. These rules are standard across all of our ‘longest marathon’ records. We’ve seen how inspirational it has been for her fans…We wish Afua the best of luck with any future record attempts,” the statement contained.
