A critical analysis of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) vetting indicates that certain demands by the committee were unlawful.
The committee, which obviously had the intention of disqualifying one of the aspirants, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, demanded that he and some of the contestants who were life patrons should provide evidence to that effect.
All the other contestants were able to provide theirs while Ambolley who once served as 1st vice president of the union in 1979 could not provide his.
The members of the committee therefore wanted to use that to disqualify him to pave way for his only competitor, Mrs. Diana Hopson to contest unopposed.
This raised questions as to when the cards were issued to the other members. A number of musicians have indicated that without the card Ambolley cannot contest the election.
However, the union’s constitution does not specify that each life patron is entitled to a card. It rather stated in Article 14 clause (A) that:
“All national and regional executive members who serve the union more than four years in office shall be eligible for life membership and; (B) Life members and patrons shall be exempted from paying dues.”
If the card matters so much, why didn’t the constitution emphasize on that?
Why was the committee only interested in seeing his life patron card instead of looking at the constitution?
A member of the committee from Radio Ghana, Justice Mingle who seemed doubtful about Ambolley’s claims, told him that it was not automatic that anyone who once served the union as vice president should not pay dues and that he (Mingle) could substantiate that.
Beatwaves therefore challenged Mingle to prove that from the constitution.
The committee asked Ambolley to reappear at its next sitting with proof that he was once vice president. Many people who heard about the development described it as unfortunate and Beatwaves shares the same opinion.
Ambolley is not supposed to provide the committee with any document as proof that he once served the union.
It is only for MUSIGA to come out and declare whether Ambolley was ever a vice president of the union, because the union must have records of all past executives.
According to sources, if Ambolley fails to provide a proof he would be disqualified.
Will the committee’s plan work out at the next sitting, come Friday November 2? Other aspirants, Jude Lomotey and Nana Kwame Ampadu, who are contesting the positions of Treasurer and General Secretary respectively would also be at the sitting for the first time.
