Two weeks after the mysterious disappearance of popular musician Castro ‘Under Fire’ during a jet ski ride with a female friend in Ada, the entire nation is still shocked by the incident which has received massive media coverage as well as several high-profile reactions both locally and internationally.
One place in Ghana that has been affected the most by the incident is Castro’s birthplace of Sekondi-Takoradi.
One can only admire the overwhelming love and support that residents of the twin city are showing to their icon since radio stations started broadcasting ‘his death’ that fateful Sunday afternoon. The whole town was shaken by the news. People abandoned their usual ‘Sunday rituals’. There was total confusion. You rarely could hear loud music. Everything had come to a halt. Nothing was normal.
In the evening, many women trooped the residence of Castro’s father (Mr. Eshun, popularly known as ‘Coachee’, who works at the Takoradi Harbour and also manages a youth football team) to console him.
The entire central business district was relatively quiet the next day with some traders attributing the unusual calmness to the Castro incident.
Since the the incident happened, die-hard fans of the musician have been criticizing some local radio stations for what they describe as unprofessional handling of the news. The radio stations who were constantly chastised for prematurely declaring Castro dead have been forced to retract the reports and apologize.
To Castro’s home fans, only his dead body will confirm his death. According to them, Castro is a faithful ambassador who is down-to-earth despite his fame and success in the music industry. Castro freely supports any local musician who approaches him so almost every local artiste has a song with him.
It is clear his fans and many proteges have not lost hope. They still look forward to seeing Castro in town for a mega concert. Castro’s hit joint with Sarkodie ‘Adonai’ as well as his singles ‘Olofofo’ and ‘Jealousy’ can be heard in almost every corner. There are also reports of some schools and churches in the metropolis conducting special prayers for the musician.
It has been a very interesting period in the history of show business in Ghana and even though the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of one of the strong pillars of contemporary Ghanaian music is yet to be uncovered, to his loyal fans in Sekondi-Takoradi, Castro is alive.