Perhaps, The President Is Not Aware…

We would want to believe our President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has not been frankly briefed about the current mood of key players within the Creative Arts sector, else he would have instructed that some urgent attention be given to the pressing challenges.

It would not be surprising the President may be unaware because there are times when people fail on their responsibilities, they hide their inefficiencies by not informing their appointing authorities of the actual situation on the ground.

Perhaps, the President has also not picked signals that the various spokespersons on Creative Arts within his government have either cowed into docility or simply fumble with nothing to boast or be proud of when they appear on radio and television discussions these days.

The confidence and passion with which same spokespersons, prior to the 2016 polls, paraded themselves as members of the supposed ‘Creative Arts for Change’ group and yelled from rooftops about prudent and pragmatic changes a government led by Nana Akufo-Addo would bring into the Arts sector to transform the ailing industry.

Some three years down the line, not a single major campaign promise made in regards of the Arts sector has been fulfilled.

The flagship promise for the Arts sector was to pursue the building of large sized modern theaters and event centers in each of the then ten regions, starting from Tamale, Kumasi and Takoradi.

Barely 12 months to elections, that promise has become a valuable political currency for opposition political parties because it has turned out to be cheap talk.

What the NPP points to, when reminded of that promise is nothing but the refurbishment of one small sized event center at Koforidua which is certainly far from ‘ultra-modern’ by any stretch of definition.

Mr. President, THE NEW PUBLISHER, respectfully reminds you that it was for very good reasons that the NPP promised to build a special division of the High Courts, just for the Arts sector. We are being told today on radio, by no other person than a Director at the National Commission on Culture, Socrate Safo, a key Creative Arts for Change capo, that the Chief Justice had said that promise cannot be achieved.

Really? The Chief Justice, if she truly said so, should be reminded her face would not be on the ballot papers come election 2020.

Apart from the unfulfilled promises, there is also the shameful challenge of unpaid appointees within the Arts sector.

Then there is the rather scary and unimpressive legacy of the former sector Minister, Catherine Afeku, and her unaccounted AFRIMA expenses.

We shall continue in next edition.