The long battle for the presidency has ended. Thankfully, the period of stepping on toes, backbiting, mixed feelings and simmering tempers have ended and a new period of relief and a hopeful future for MUSIGA is looming in the horizon.
Out of the four persons contesting for the presidency (Nana Tuffour, Gyedu Blay Ambulley, Willi Roi and Obuor), Obuor wins the throne of MUSIGA, thus his inauguration and the inauguration of the other new executives to head the next four year term. Obuor polled 64 votes, Nana Tuffuor 51, Gyedu Blay Ambulley 24 votes and Willi Roi with 2 votes at the August 18th elections held at MUSIGA’s congress in Tamale. Kaakyire Kwame Appiah is the new 1st Vice President, Bessa Simmons, 2nd Vice President, Deborah Freeman as General Secretary, Chizzy Wailer as Organizer, John Victor Owusu as the new National Welfare Officer and Oheneba Kisi as Financial Secretary.
The ceremony of inauguration which was held on the 8th of September in the main hall of the MUSIGA head office was quite the celebration. It would definitely be a landmark in MUSIGA history, first of for being the first inauguration to be open to media and the public. At the high table were ex-MUSIGA president Diana Hopeson and her past executives, Dr. Kofi Amoah (Business mogul and owner of Citizen Kofi) as Chair of the event. In front of the high table, were pictures of the past presidents of MUSIGA who had to be honoured as the pioneers of this important Union for musicians. Other important personalities present were some honourable Ministers of State, special guest of the Occasion, Kofi Asamoah, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Alhaji Sidiki Buari, Ben Braku, and Daddy Bosco, (popularly known as Idi Koko). K.K Kabobo who was disqualified from the elections because of his failure to be present at the vetting made sure he would not be in the books of disqualification again this time by showing up at the inauguration. And, as a formality and support, big names of the Music industry were present: A. B. Crentsil, Bibie Brew, Mary Ghansah, Okyeame Kwame, Efya, Richie, Zigi, Tinny, Sydney, Asem, Nana Kwame Ampedu, to name a few. Actors, Pascaline Edwards and Augustine Abbey were also present. Interestingly enough, Gyedu Blay Ambulley and Willi Roi who lost the presidency were not present. Are hopes for Unity in danger?
The event, at which David Dontoh was Master of Ceremonies, was filled with speeches by respected personalities from notable organizations such as the Ghana Concert Party Association, the Copyright Association, the Film Producers’ Association of Ghana, the Ghana Actors Guild and the Trade Union Congress. The advice of “Unity” rang through. Obuor’s goal for his four-year term, Rebranding the Music Industry, became a mantra in all the speeches made by any of his executives, including Bessa Simmons. The Special Guest of the ceremony, Kofi Asamoah, began his speech by commending the past presidency of MUSIGA, repeats Obuor’s hope of instituting a minimum wage system for musicians, drags in the need for a pension system for Musicians (“developing life after work schemes”) and resounds on the need for togetherness to achieve. However, the highlighted speech of the day was that delivered by Dr. Kofi Amoah, chairman of the event.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Kofi Amoah states that this “youthful presidency” would inspire the youth to achieve. He refers to MUSIGA as “the little hen coming out of its egg to take its rightful place in society”. Advocating for Ghanaians to recognize the worth of our own music, he says, “Music is big business and we have to understand that”. He asserts, quite rightly, that music is not just emotionalism but a practical tool. He also hints at the need in the renovation of the MUSIGA head office building, in that it should truly represent the headquarters of this Musicians’ Union and concludes that, “We should think big”. And to demonstrate exactly how big we should think, He publicly declared his contribution of US $100,000 to MUSIGA. Titters, applauses, handshaking took quite a while before the crowd could digest the news.
There is certainly hope for a more money-acquiring, business-directed MUSIGA with Obuor as its current president. Gone will possibly be the days of music as an industry done for the love of it while cooking pots are empty at home. According to Obuor, “It is time for us to come to that very important realization that music transcends just entertainment to a huge empire of business, and development of our industry will only come in an atmosphere of tranquility and unity. We can solve our problems of the industry as individuals, but it is only when we unite that we can change the industry. Together we can change the status quo which has reduced our industry to one of poverty although the industry represents wealth in our jurisdictions.”
There are plans on the ground for a minimum wage system for musicians which would be divided in a grade or class system. Certain criteria would have to be satisfied, of course. We hope for the smooth running of this system.
Music as a whole is an industry that can garner a profound amount of wealth for a country. However, it has the tendency of being concentrated at the top where the power lies. This attempt at decentralization of the wealth in the industry would certainly go a long way to attract more talented musicians into the industry and, possibly, make Ghanaian music serious competition with its international competitors.
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