Member of Parliament Hon. Kwame Asare Obeng has revealed that President John Dramani Mahama had intended to support highlife icon Daddy Lumba during his health struggles before the musician’s recent death.
A-Plus, a former musician himself, shared details of conversations he had with the former president following the 2025 Senior Citizens Day event.
“The president saw Lumba at the Senior Citizens Day event and could tell he wasn’t well. He told me he wanted to take care of him,” A-Plus stated in an interview with GhanaWeb.
According to A-Plus, Mahama made multiple attempts to reach out to the legendary musician. “He tried reaching out, but Lumba was a private person and wanted to get ready before meeting him,” A-Plus explained, adding that the president had followed up on two separate occasions inquiring about Lumba’s well-being and his desire to provide assistance. But Lumba, being private, was holding back for personal reasons.
In the wake of Daddy Lumba’s passing, A-Plus emphasized the critical need to document and preserve the legacies of Ghana’s cultural icons. He lamented the scarcity of comprehensive visual or documentary records of Lumba’s life.
“We should have told the Daddy Lumba story long ago, but it’s not too late,” A-Plus urged. “He’s gone with many songs and meanings we’ll never fully understand. We must not wait for the rest to go before we act.”
A-Plus called on the government to reinvest in institutions dedicated to preserving Ghana’s heritage. “We need to start doing something for our legends—not just those in the arts, but also in politics and other areas. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to tell their stories properly,” he asserted.
He drew a parallel to Ghana’s history, referencing the establishment of the Ghana Film Industry Corporation by Kwame Nkrumah years ago to preserve culture, music, and stories. “It’s time to do this again—this time, with even more urgency,” A-Plus concluded.