Yvonne Nelson turned down Akufo-Addo’s request to contest me because of our friendship – John Dumelo

Ghanaian actor and politician John Dumelo has heaped praises on his colleague and friend, Yvonne Nelson for refusing a plot against his political career.

In actress Yvonne Nelson’s explosive memoir “I Am Not Yvonne Nelson,” she revealed receiving an offer from President Akufo-Addo’s camp to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NPP ahead of the 2020 elections.

However, she turned down the offer due to her long-standing friendship with John Dumelo, who was contesting the seat on the ticket of the NDC.

In her memoir, the actress wrote, “Prior to the 2020 polls, an influential man in the Akufo-Addo circles came to see me and proposed to sponsor me to contest the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NPP.”

However, she told the messenger she was not interested, saying, “Even if I was interested in going to parliament, who told him I wanted to do that on the ticket of the NPP? What if I wanted to go as an independent candidate? And was I going to allow myself to be someone’s political puppet?”

She said she suspected the NPP wanted to use her due to her influence in leading the #DumsorMustStop protests against the former Mahama government.

They also wanted her to defeat John Dumelo, her friend and fellow actor who was contesting for the NDC, she said.

“Apart from the fact that they probably saw a formidable political personality in me as a result of the #DumsorMustStop protest, the other reason the NPP’s gods wanted me to contest was not difficult to discern.

“My colleague actor and friend, John Dumelo, was contesting that constituency on the ticket of the opposition NDC and they feared he could unseat the NPP candidate with his celebrity status,” She wrote.

John Dumelo confirmed the YN Production CEO’s account, tweeting, “I remember Yvonne Nelson called me sometime back before the 2020 elections to tell me someone extremely close to the current president had asked her to contest in Ayawaso West on the ticket of NPP.

“These were her words to me 'John, I can’t do that to you, I told them no, I can’t throw away our many years of friendship because of politics'.”

Her memoir provides insight into the behind-the-scenes challenges she faced in her pursuit to make a name for herself.