Amadia Shopping Centre, the sponsor of Chef Ebenezer Smith’s cook-a-thon has addressed the controversy surrounding his arrest and Guinness World Record certification.
Chef Smith conducted his cooking marathon from February 1 to March 6, 2024, at Amadia Shopping Centre located in Spintex, Accra.
However, amidst widespread criticism and the clarification from Guinness World Records that they had no record of Smith’s attempt, another significant incident that added to the confusion was his arrest during a press conference announcing his purported achievement.
Reports indicated that Chef Smith’s arrest was led by Nana Boroo, the brother of Amadia Shopping Centre’s owner, along with a group of police officers.
In response to the backlash and public reactions on social media, the sponsors of the event have issued a detailed press statement explaining their actions.
They disclosed that both parties had signed a binding three-year contract to support Chef Smith’s record-breaking attempt, which was entirely organized and funded by Amadia Shopping Centre.
The statement highlighted that on the final day of the month-long cook-a-thon, the shopping centre even hosted a musical concert to express gratitude to the public and celebrate Chef Smith and his team for their extraordinary achievement of the 802-hour cooking marathon.
However, following the event attempts by Amadia Shopping Centre’s management to reach Chef Smith regarding the upload progress of videos from the cook-a-thon and the response from Guinness World Records had been unsuccessful.
They said they only learned of a press conference at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel where Chef Smith intended to disclose the outcome of his GWR attempt through a flyer, without notifying them, which they viewed as a breach of their contract.
Despite numerous attempts to contact Chef Smith, the sponsors received no response.
Consequently, they visited the press conference venue to verify the authenticity of the GWR certificate, citing their brand affiliation with Chef Smith.
They then called the police to halt the proceedings until Chef Smith could provide evidence of the certificate’s legitimacy, noting that they were initially denied entry.
The statement concluded that the police have now taken over the investigation.
Check out the statement below;
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
