Rex Omar
Just like every other election year in Ghana, political parties will approach talented and vibrant Ghanaian musicians with huge fan base to compose political songs for them as part of their campaign projects this year.
Over the years, Ghana has seen Gospel, Highlife and Hiplife prolific musicians like Daddy Lumba, Great Ampong, Kwabena Kwabena, Diana Asamoah, A Plus, Adangba and others, all record propaganda campaign songs for presidential candidates during elections.
Most of these musicians usually come under public backlashes and are even believed to have lost almost majority of their fan base due to their involvement with a particular political party, instead of being neutral to appeal to every fan.
According to legendary Highlife sensation, Rex Omar, who sees nothing wrong with musicians coming public with their political preferences, Ghanaians do not have to be so judgmental about musicians in politics, because we are all entitled to the freedom of association.
“Politics is everywhere. A musician delving into partisan politics is just like their choice of Churches as well. We have freedom of association so there is nothing wrong with a musician belonging to party A or B. At the end of the day, we are all one people and Ghana is the most important thing,” Rex Omar told Flex newspaper.
The Papa singer further intimated that, he does not believe in the assertion that a musician is likely to lose part of his or her fan base after publicly joining a political campaign project.
He said only people who hate a particular musician hides behind partisan politics and devalue an artiste, because true fans stay loyal even when the political preferences of their favorite celebrities are made public.
“Nobody will stop buying or listening to your songs because you belong to a certain political party other than theirs.
It is people who do not understand what politics means and people who just hate you for no reason who hide behind partisan politics to bring you down,” he added. ”If I’m a musician and I have a fan base, are my fans following me for my music or personal life? If it’s for my music, it has no political color and if it’s for my personal life, true fans will stay with me.”
Rex Omar went on to cite the United States of America as an example. He said America is the mother of democracy and it is even hypocritical for an artiste or public figure there to conceal their political stance. rex omar
Ghana’s democratic system, he said, is sometimes baffling, because on one hand as a country, we claim to be democratic and on the other, we criticize and condemn people who exercise their democratic rights in politics.
“I personally have many friends and family members who are in various political parties and we are still on good terms. It’s up to you to hide or disclose your political preference, but nobody has the right to condemn any musician who declares his or her political stance,” he further noted.
Touching on whether Rex is likely to join the campaign train of any of our political parties if he is approached with irresistible deals this year, the Abiba hit maker declined and explained his reasons below: “I love national politics, but I haven’t declared myself a politician. I am a musician. I don’t need any political party to approach me for campaign endorsement deals. If I ever feel a specific presidential candidate has spectacular ideologies in governing Ghana, I would endorse that flag bearer willingly.”
In conclusion, Rex Omar left the decision of campaigning for political parties through songs in the court of musicians.
He has no advisory speeches whatsoever for them, because he believes such decisions are practically theirs to make. Rex Omar wishes Ghana a peaceful election and urges all Ghanaians to desist from fighting one another and channel their energy to voting wisely.
