Glam Africa: The Lockdown Edition (2020)

Whether she’s shuttling between movie
sets, A-list events, or jetting between her
favourite holiday destinations, Jackie
Appiah is always on the move. I was curious
to find out in what ways the lockdown has
affected her 2020 plans, and how she intends
to spend her days in the meantime.
“Before the lockdown I had a movie I was
meant to premiere called ‘Red Carpet’. We
shot parts of it in Nigeria, some in Ghana
and some in Dubai. It was a huge production,
but we’ve had to put it on hold. Musicians
can still record music if they have studios
in their houses, post their content on social
media and interact with their audience. But
for actors and actresses we really have to
crowd people. To work on a film, you need
a cast, you need your crew. Even once the
production process is
complete you have to
premiere it and screen
them at cinemas. The
industry is at a complete
standstill right now. It’s a
sad moment for us, and
for people all over the
world.”
So how is Jackie Appiah
spending her time in
isolation? Well, she’s
taken the opportunity to
spend more time with
her family, cooking,
catching up on movies,
and developing her craft. Yet despite having
every excuse to shut herself off completely
from the external world, I get the sense
that Jackie (and indeed a lot of her peers in
the industry) often feel a sort of pressure
to entertain, to keep people engaged and
lift their spirits amidst the humdrum
monotony of self-isolation. With more than
7 million Instagram followers, Jackie is
the most-followed celebrity in Ghana, and
thanks to the stay-at-home order, Jackie
is just one among hundreds of millions of
people turning to Chinese video-sharing
app TikTok to pass the time. From Cardi B
impressions to sitcom-inspired shorts, the
results are priceless, and Jackie’s unique
brand of comedy has already garnered her
“The most
important
thing to me is
being able to
put smiles on
people’s faces”
hundreds of thousands of subscribers on the
relatively new platform.
“I’ve been making lots of funny videos
recently. TikTok has given me so many fun
ideas for things I can do to entertain my
followers. It’s not putting money into my
pockets but I love being able to help people
through these frustrating times in any way
that I can, and be a blessing to others. The
most important thing to me is being able
to put smiles on people’s faces. So many
people are dealing with stress, anxiety and
depression. Keeping people entertained can
go a long way towards lifting their spirits, so
that’s what I try to do. The response has been
fantastic. People keep telling me, ‘I didn’t
know you were a comedian, I didn’t know
you were this funny.’”
But TikTok skits aren’t the
only way Jackie is giving
back to her people. Back
in March, Information
Minister, Kojo Oppong
Nkrumah, announced
that Ghana’s government
was looking into
appointing influential
celebrities as ambassadors
in an effort to help educate
the general public as the
situation surrounding
the coronavirus outbreak
continued to unfold.
At the time, some
celebrities blasted the idea, arguing that
celebrities should not be expected to accept
appointments unless the government
was willing to offer them money. Jackie,
however, criticised the scheme for entirely
different reasons, arguing instead that
influential people should be willing to use
their platforms and their voices to help
others, without the prerequisite of an official
government appointment, or a cheque for
their contributions. Hardly one to keep her
money away from her mouth, Jackie has
joined the fight in every way she can, from
donating household essentials and food
items, to educating people in person and
via her socials, as well as distributing vital
sanitary products.
44 GLAM AFRICA · MAY 2020