Ghanaian musician Okyeame Kwame and actor Prince David Osei are some of the people chosen to put together provisions for the manifesto of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
They form part of the party’s sub-committee on tourism, arts and culture chaired by the Executive Secretary of the National Film Authority (NFA), Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) Akwasi Agyemang.
Other members are former minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Catherine Abelema Afeku, Dr. Ama Boafo-Arthur, Prof. Issahatu Adam, and the founder of the Glitz Style Awards, Claudia Lumor.
Others are Nana Yaw Manteaw, Yaa Pokua Baiden, Kwaku Osei Korankye Asiedu (KOKA), and Festus Frimpong Gyebi, Eric Owusu Akreso, Dr. Ackah Kwame Nyameke and Radia Adama Saani.
With higher expectations from stakeholders of the cultural and creative industries, this committee would have to fashion out items that hold greater fortunes the sector.
Already, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamadu Bawumia has promised to create digital platforms for Ghanaian artists if he becomes President.
He said this during his lecture dubbed ‘Ghana’s Next Chapter: Selfless Leadership and Bold Solutions for the Future’ at the University of Professional Studies in Accra on February 7, 2024.
“We will introduce other initiatives such as digital and streaming platforms for our artists to make tourism and the creative arts a growth pole in Ghana,” he said.
In the 2020 Manifesto of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the creative industry, the party made a similar promise.
“We will build a digital platform for artists to make their products available to the global market,” the NPP stated.
During his lecture, Dr. Bawumia also promised to build on the Year of Return, Beyond the Return, December in Ghana.
He further touched on alleviating the burden of taxes on the creatives.
“Tax incentives will also be provided for film producers and musicians,” he noted.
Finally, Dr. Bawumia, currently the Vice President of Ghana, said “to boost tourism and job creation, my government will implement an e-visa policy for all international visitors to Ghana to enable visas to be obtained in minutes subject to security and criminal checks.”
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), has come under serious scrutiny by the creative industry stakeholders for reneging on a number of its promises.
Some of the NPP’s unfulfilled promises are the setting up of the Creative Arts Fund to support artists, and the construction of theatres in Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale.
The NPP also promised that “given that our artistes do not have the capital to set up studios, we will, as part of the entrepreneurial hub’s strategy, establish, in partnership with the private sector, large recording studios in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi. Recording artists can rent space to do the recordings in these studios.” That promise has also not been fulfilled.
Finally, the construction of a convention and exhibition centre at the Ghana Trade Fair Company site, La has not been completed.
Source: Adomonline