Radio and television personality Ola Michael has blamed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for Chef Smith's grand deception amidst the cook-a-thon controversy.

According to him, for a man to sit, scheme, and plan such a national deception, it can only be possible because of hardship.

"This is a significant issue. For a man to sit and plan such a grand deception scheme is worrying, but you cannot blame him. I will blame Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia because if not for hardship, I'm not sure he would do this," he said on United Showbiz hosted by MzGee.

"I am not glorifying what he did, and this is my opinion. I know that because of the hardship in the system, a number of people have resorted to scamming now, and it's not the best."

He continued, "If there were jobs in this country for people like Chef Smith, would he have deceived all of us? Would he go and print a fake certificate? No, he's looking for validation."

Ola Michael says he's also planning to be involved in one grand deception to make some gains for himself.

Background

Ghanaian Chef Ebenezer Smith conducted his cooking marathon from February 1 to March 6, 2024, at Amadia Shopping Centre located at Spintex, Accra.

On July 2, 2024, Chef Smith claimed to have set a new record for the longest cooking marathon.

However, his claim was disputed by Guinness World Records (GWR), which stated they never received an application from him, the certificate he presented was not recognized by GWR, and the official record is still held by Alan Fisher of Ireland.