Creative arts group fires up again for NPP

A group of creative arts practitioners and sympathizers that came together and campaigned for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under the name Creative Arts for Change, has regrouped ahead of the 2020 December polls under the name Creative Arts for More.

The group made up of musicians, artisans, actors, actresses, among others, say the achievement of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration for the Creative Arts sector has been a phenomenon indicating that a strategic move of the house-to-house campaign has been declared to secure more votes for the party.

The official launch which was done last Saturday at the Snap Cinema, inside AMA office complex in Accra was formed by the creative arts industry stakeholders.

Speaking at the launch, Ghanaian filmmaker and director for Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Socrate Safo said the current NPP government deserves four more years to better the foundation built for the sector.

According to him, the unprecedented achievement of the Nana Addo administration for the Creative Arts Industry cannot be left to rot, therefore deserves another term.

“We have done a lot for this sector the past 3 and half years, in the history of Ghana, Nana Addo is the only president who has shown much commitment for the Industry. We cannot leave it to damage for another government. NO NO NO – we need to fight hard, campaign on the policies, and achievements. We won’t push out lies like our other colleagues from the opposite side.

“Let’s present facts. We branded to this new name because we wanted a change of government ahead of the 2016 elections, the change came,we have set the foundation down with more projects and better initiatives to develop the sector, now we need to get four more years to enable us do more for the good people of this country.

"Now we don’t pay water bills, light, and school fees are free among other good policies implemented by this administration” he said.

Socrate also said the objective of members of Creative Arts For More 2020 Campaign is to interact with ordinary voters and share their experience on the need for continuation concerning leadership in the country “since it is the only way this country and its creative industry can see progress.”

Recognition

President of the Creative Arts Council of Ghana, Mark Okraku Mantey on his part said the NPP inherited a creative arts sector of no recognition after the 2016 elections but added that, both locally and the international front has placed Ghana on a higher scale at the moment due to the better programs and initiatives from the Nana Addo government.

“Let’s accept that dumsor has become a thing of the past due to the strategies from the NPP administration. The many achievements of the NPP will not solely be for only creative arts. Anything to do with fuel, electricity, and housing among others affects all of us."

“The creative arts sector inherited a space of no recognition. We didn’t have any recognition at all. There were no offices for us, there was actually nothing spearheaded for the creative arts by the then NDC. The Ministry was just there with nothing to show. At the moment, there is enough recognition for us, we are known well in other countries," he remarked.

Touching on the Creative Arts bill, Mark indicated the Bill is now ready to be passed into law adding that, it will serve as a great tool for growth for the industry.

“The bill is the foundation of many things, if we don’t give this government four more years; the bill might not be the priority of the other government. We need the bill passed for more beneficial things. As it stands now, the bill is almost to be passed. Akufo-Addo is committed to making it done”

The Act will amongst others establish the Creative Arts Fund and an Agency to promote the industry.

It will also enable the government to organise the Creative Arts Industry and create an enabling environment through direct and indirect support for practitioners and industry players to impact on national development.

Improvement

The Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, listed many factors which he says has contributed to the recent boost in the tourism sector.

One of the factors he indicated is the development of the ‘Visit Ghana’ website.

According to him, the website has been a valuable source of information to many tourists who have travelled to the country in recent times.

According to him, prior to the development of the website, most tourists used agents, tour operators and contacts in their home countries when they decided to make travel considerations, adding that this limited their travel options.

He said, “Sometimes information for tour operators is scattered so it will be difficult to know what is in Ghana, but now all that information has been made available on the website and it is aggressively being pushed on the international scene, people regularly visit the website for information and that has really helped us.