I am disappointed; we expected a lot from the president - George Quaye

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the man many believed could give the creative arts industry a facelift.

While striving for the presidential office under the New Patriotic Party, they promised to set up theatres and a Creative Arts Fund to support artistes as well as build a digital platform for artists, among many other promises.

They are, however, yet to deliver on these promises, barely two years to the end of the president's second term in office.

Ghanaian actor and director George Quaye did not mince words when he expressed his disappointment in the current NPP government.

"I am disappointed because, look, there is a lot that we all expected from the president of the republic because the promises were a lot... it will be a blatant lie to say they are doing great; however, all is not lost; there is 2 years left.

"I am challenging the leadership of this country to save whatever is left of our arts because you do not come and shut down all our event venues. They've been shut down; I am not joking. The National Theatre is a sad story, I look at it, and I weep," Mr. Quaye lamented.

Speaking on Daybreak Hitz with Andy Dosty, he hoped the country's leadership would sit up on matters affecting the creative sector. He highlighted the poor state of the National Theatre and lamented the closure of major event centres in the capital.

"Look, we shut down the State House Banquet Hall. The Accra International Conference Centre—I don't want to say there's an accident waiting to happen, but we all know it needs help. The National Theatre, I don't want to use the word an eye saw, but it's crying for help."

He added that investments are being diverted to the construction of a national cathedral when creatives are in dire need of theatres.

"If we are not fixing all these things and we are building a church, I mean, the truth is only one, and if we do not speak it, then we are shooting ourselves in the foot...We have had leaders who are not committed to the arts. All they know how to do is campaign songs," George Quaye lamented as he called for change.

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