I paid musicians twice every year - Alhaji Sidiku Buari

The former President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Alhaji Sidiku Buari has disclosed that during his administration as the chairman of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) for eight years he worked tirelessly to improve the living condition of the Ghanaian musicians.

The former MUSIGA president who was not happy with the current development in the music industry further disclosed that during his administration his board members were not being paid but received sitting allowance after monthly board meetings.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM last Saturday, the former MUSIGA president who threw more light on some of his contributions to the creative arts industry told Kojo Preko, the host the Entertainment Review programme on Adom FM that through his efforts COSGA was able to put up its own well furnished office building which is now being used as the national office for the collective society.

“It was during my administration that intellectual property owners were protected. I paid musicians their royalties twice every year.”

Sidiku Buari who was also the former vice president of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) said he is very happy that the government is investing in the creative arts industry, adding that during his eight years as MUSIGA president he suffered a lot because there were no funds and so he ran the administration with his own resources. He renovated the old passport office which was given to MUSIGA by the government, with his money.

Alhaji Sidiku Buari intimated that during his administration the union appealed to government to waive duty on musical instruments to enable musicians to acquire their own sets of instruments for their live musical performances.

He also succeeded in championing the passage of the Copyright Law C690 to protect the interest of all the copyright music and other stakeholders as well as create jobs for the musicians.

With over 52 awards to his credit, Sidiku in 2004 was appointed at the vice president of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and served with distinction until the end of his term in 2008.

The former FIM vice president told Adom FM that he is one of the pioneers of movie production in Ghana with his first production, ‘Ayalolo’ showed commercially in all the cinema houses throughout the country.

He noted that based on his outstanding performance in movie production, some years ago Douche Welles of Germany sponsored him to travel to most of the African countries to share his experience in movie production with his colleagues.

He revealed that before he became a musician and movie producer, he was a sportsman who won a silver medal for Ghana in the 400-metre race in All African Games in Dakar, Senegal in 1963.

According to him, in the same year he won gold and silver medals in the 400 metres and 4×400 metres relay for Ghana in West African games in Ibadan, Nigeria, adding “IN 1965 I won a bronze medal for Ghana in All African Games held in Congo Brazzaville.