Kaarekyire Appiah confesses to visa racketeering

Accra (Greater Accra) 11 Feb. '99

Kaakyire Kwame Appiah, the musician who came to the limelight after his "December 24" album, has confessed to recruiting people to travel with him as bandsmen but said the people were deported.

He made the confession at the sitting of the committee probing allegations of visa racketeering by some members of the Musicians Union of Ghana, in Accra yesterday.

Others who appeared before the committee to answer questions of allegations levelled against them were Steve Annan, leader of the Ex-boys and girls band and Prince Osei Kofi, leader of the African Heroes band.

Steve Annan who is accused of possessing two valid passports and also allegedly charging Ghanaians and Nigerians 6,000 dollars and 4,000 dollars respectively with a promise of sending them abroad, denied both allegations.

Annan also denied ever giving his new passport to one Kwadwo Amoateng, who is now in the hands of the police, to travel abroad. He is to submit the passport by next week to the committee for further investigations.

Prince Osei Kofi who commented on the performance of MUSIGA suggested that there must be a law to bind all members and regulate their activities in order to help rebuild the tarnished image of the union.

On piracy, he said there is no effective mechanism to control the possibility of the production of fake banderoles and MUSIGA must come out to help local artists to reach international levels.

Nana Barima-Adansi Omane, Chairman of the committee said there is the need for a complete restructuring of the union in order to solve the many issues facing the music industry.

He attributed the current allegations of visa racketeering by some members to the fact that the executive has neglected its duty of ensuring that proper consultations are made with the union before travelling.

Barima-Adansi Omane said the committee was set by the government under the National Commission on Culture to help raise the image and reputation of musicians and unless musicians who have been accused for such offences co-operate with the committee, they will not be able to achieve their aim.

"The committee will not prosecute any musician, but it is to ensure that members of the union are saved from embarrassments".

Nana Kwame Ampadu, General Secretary of MUSIGA, rejected claims that he has been demoted. He said the proposal for his removal must have been made during his absence but he has no knowledge of such a decision.