Ambolley, Bessa Simons, Richie Mensah eyes MUSIGA Positions

Musician Union Of Ghana(MUSIGA) general election is scheduled to take place on June 26, 2019. Many in the entertainment Industry see the upcoming election as unique in history and vital to higher implementation of policies for developmental Projects.

In August 2011, Rapper Obour took over the position as the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) from Diana Hopeson. He laid down his music career for the administrative work of the Union.

At the congress held at the Radach Memorial Centre in Tamale, Obour won the MUSIGA Presidency with 64 votes. He was followed by highlife musician Nana Tuffour, who polled 51 votes. Gyedu Blay Ambolley came in third with 24 votes and the late Willi Roi had just 2 votes.

After the first four years ended in June 2015, Obour contested again and won the seat despite the many oppose against him. At the Koforidua Congress, Obour secured 88 out of the 133 votes cast to retain his seat.

Renowned sound engineer Appietus also obtained 18 votes, while highlife legend Gyedu Blay Ambolley managed to secure 22 votes out of the total valid votes cast.

Come June, 26, 2019, MUSIGA will have a new President and executives.
The current President Bice Obour Osei Kuffour won’t contest again; he has done two terms, the maximum one could do as the Union’s president per their constitution.

Many have started expressing interest in the various positions they want to occupy, Many among the tall list are names like Richie Mensah, Musician EL , Gyedu-Blay Ambulley, Ras Caleb Appiah, who is the Chairman for the Greater Regional branch of MUSIGA among others.

According to the constitution of the Union, anyone who expresses interest to run specifically for the President must have held a position before.

In a Video announcing his intention to vie for the position of the Vice President, the Chief Executive Officer of Lynx Entertainment, Richie Mensah said, the experience he has gleaned from the music industry since he started music about 12 years ago qualifies him for the MUSIGA position.

“In my efforts to standardise the industry, I embarked on projects such as Music Plus, Music this Week, The Future project an official Ghana music chart and Ghana Music Live App. There is so much more that can still be done, which is why when nominations open, I will be picking up forms to stand for Vice President for MUSIGA,” he said.

The current 1st Vice President of the Union, Bessa Simons recently also expressed his interest in the position of the presidency but according to him, he would do official announcement to the Public soon.

“I will come out soon to announce my intent once the broad consultation I am making ends soon. MUSIGA is a great union and having served as its 1st vice chair I have a very good appreciation of what the challenges and opportunities are,” he is quoted to have in an interview.

This may be another new phase of the Union as was seen when Obour was elected President 8 years ago. One thing is certain that, their various manifesto and campaign messages will be an exciting one in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the body has set up a five-member committee that will supervise its national elections in June.

The committee has Smart Nkansah as its chairman, with former MUSIGA president Diana Hopeson as secretary. It also has Rev. Dr Mary Ghansah, Lawyer Jonathan Cudjoe and Trigmatic.

The committee will supervise the filing and nomination processes and take care of vetting of those who will vie the various positions. It will also work with the Electoral Commission of Ghana to ensure a free and fair election.