Illiterates, ‘family and friends’ workers sabotaging efforts to improve National Theatre - KOKA

Ghanaian entertainment critic and event organizer, Kwaku Osei Koranteng Asiedu, also known as KOKA, has attributed the deteriorating state of the national theatre to specific individuals who constantly derail efforts to fix problems with the facility.

Speaking exclusively to GhanaWeb Entertainment’s Isaac Dadzie, KOKA lamented the rundown state of the National Theatre and blamed it on individuals who, according to him, do not have the necessary managerial skills to ensure that the theatre is kept up to standard.

“Managers are supposed to raise revenue and ensure that the place is always fit and in good shape to be able to run the kind of service it runs. The National Theatre is out of hand; they don't have a generator set, and the washrooms are horrible; look at the reservoir there.

"The water is spilling out of the ground... It is not about the managing director; it is about the individuals who are sabotaging things there; we are constantly employing the wrong people for the wrong job,” he said.

He alleged that individuals who attained positions at the National Theatre through political affiliations and nepotism are responsible for sabotaging repair work at the facility.

He cited cases where the founder of Roverman Productions, Uncle Ebo Whyte, and himself were prevented from making attempts to renovate the place.

“There is nothing like a renovation plan. I have witnessed various organisations trying to get some repairs done because it is where they work. Especially Roverman. Do you know why they don’t want to get the air conditioning fixed? It is because people are making money out of it.

“I got people to fix the air conditioning there, but they sabotaged me. Look at Uncle Ebo, the highest revenue maker for the National Theatre; they sabotaged him when he wanted to fix things there. Are you aware he is not doing his 3rd Quarter shows there?

He continued: “National Theater's problem is the wrong workers. There are a lot of illiterates and there are a lot of family and friends working there.

"The people at the helm of affairs are not business-minded. We keep giving the space to people who are supposed to be performers, not managers,” he said.

KOKA also denounced suggestions that the theatre does not have enough funds for its upkeep.

He instead blamed the managers of the facility for doing a lackadaisical job and called for total privatization of the theatre.

“The whole National Theatre must be shut down and given to a private entity. Because the workers there are the cause of the problem. The people who work there are the cause of the problem. The political factions and things are the problem,” he stated.

ID/BB



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