Carlos Sakyi is afraid to account – Okraku Mantey

Carlos Sekyi, interim board chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) has refused to account for monies the organization collects on behalf of music right owners because he is afraid whatever accounts he puts out would be misunderstood, Mark Okaraku Mantey, a member of the board, has revealed.

TV3’s Bright Nana Amfoh, in an interview with mark Okraku Mantey last Tuesday, asked the latter why Carlos Sekyi has not respected GHAMRO’s constitution that makes it mandatory for him to render annual accounts and Mark’s response was: “Right from the very first month of this board, people like Obour and his contemporaries never gave Carlos Sekyi his peace of mind.

The man is scared that anything he puts out would be misinterpreted. Interpretation for the thing could be something else and so he is scared to make any move.”

Several of Ghana’s best musicians, composers, songwriters and music producers, last week, dragged Carlos Sekyi to court to account for monies GHAMRO has collected on their behalf since he took office in May 2011.

Mark Okraku Mantey explained further that the GHAMRO board has not lived up to expectation because board members, at meetings, focus on side issues rather than on substantive matters.

“For me, I would expect that we call a spade a spade. People go for board meetings and would go and express ego instead of things that would move the association forward. And then they come back and make it look like they are all goody goody goody disciples of Jesus Christ presenting some different issues to the public…

The team or board that worked over the last two years was a board that exhibited egocentrism instead of working as a team. Everyone goes there to show what they have got, stardom and personality clash and all. That is where we find ourselves now because of how we went through our things,” Mark added.

Aside the court action against Carlos Sekyi, several music right owners including Kojo Antwi, Daddy Lumba, Abrantie Amakye Dede, Rex Omar, Reggie Rockstone, Lazy, Daddy Bosco, Prodigal, Appietus, Bessa Simons and Obour recently held a seminar and press conference to call on the interim GHAMRO Board headed by Carlos Sekyi to respect the constitution governing the operations of GHAMRO, render accounts, hold Annual General Meetings and step aside for elections to be held.

Not even the Attorney General’s Department and the Copyright Office have succeeded in getting GHAMRO to render accounts.

Musicians Charles Amoah and Rex Omar, who were appointed board members of GHAMRO, have resigned from the board because they shared in the complaints from the large number of musicians who have continuously pointed out that GHAMRO is rather working against the rights of musicians.