Socrate Safo To Resign From FIPAG

Reliable information available to Peacefmonline.com, indicates that notorious movie producer and CEO of Movie Africa, Socrate Safo is about to resign from his position as the elected Public Relations Officer of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG).

This information came after Socrate said on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review” yesterday Thursday August 4, 2011 that he was going to make a big announcement in the coming week. According to a deep throat source at Movie Africa, who hinted Peacefmonline, the “Hot Fork” Producer intends to tender in his resignation letter by end of today Friday August 5, 2011.

The close source who had a snap pip of Socrate’s resignation letter dated Friday August 5, 2011, at Socrate’s New Town based office, disclosed that Socrate signed and prepared the letter, late yesterday evening, Thursday August 4, to deliver it early Friday morning to President of the Association, Mr. Augustine Abbey popularly known as Idikoko.

The source said Socrate cited personal reasons in the letter and stated that he is not happy about certain issues going on in the Association and how it is been run now, as his reason for resignation even though he didn’t state the specific issues. However, Peacefmonline.com’s investigations at FIPAG has revealed that there is hot misunderstanding between Socrate and the President Mr. Abbey but the two have not been able to sought out their differences hence his resignation.

We are reliably informed that the main reason among other reasons why Socrate wants to resign is because movie marketers, distributors and retailers at Opera Square and Kantamanto in Accra have threatened to stop selling movies produced by Socrate because according them Socrate is pushing for an increase in the price of movies on the market which they claim will not help their business. Though this is a decision taken by FIPAG as a group, Idikoko went behind them to tell the distributors that he was not part of that decision and came back to FIPAG to tell Socrate and the rest of the executives that they are not being fare to the distributors because he thinks he needs them to sell his movie.

According to a source within the Association, Socrate and Mr. Abbey have been fighting for some time now, over decisions they have taken and that Socrate is not too happy about Idokoko’s leadership thus he does not want to be part of his executives.

The source said there have been several decisions taken by the Association which the President is supposed to stand his grounds and make sure it is implemented but he turns to play holier than thou and pretend as if he does not support the decisions in public and this always make Socrate look like the bad person because he is always defending the Association’s decision in the media whiles Idikoko hides behind silently as though he was not part of the decision making.

The source who is also an executive member of the Association disclosed that Socrate have suggested on several occasions that the Association should re-register its members because they do not have enough information or data on the membership of FIPAG but anytime he raises this at Executive meetings, Mr. Abbey downplays the suggestion as though it was not relevant even though he was in support prior to the meeting.

According to the source who spoke to Peacefmonline.com on condition of anonymity, the President does not respect the Association’s decisions on how a movie should be released on the market. He revealed that whenever Idikoko releases his own movie, he sends the CDs to the private residence of the various distributors under secrecy instead of officially releasing it at Opera Square as agreed by all FIPAG members and distributors. He also mentioned the issue of general meetings explaining that the President has refused to hold general meetings for the past 9 months even though their constitution states that there should be a general meeting once every month and anytime Socrate tries to raise this issue the President tells him it is not necessary.

A peacefmonline.com finding also reveals that the President has employed a certain old man who is paid monthly to take minutes during executive meetings even though there is an elected Financial Secretary and two General Secretaries. Other executive including Socrate is against this because they think is absolutely unnecessary but Idikoko does not respect their opinions.

“Idikoko is a hypocrite he is always playing to the gallery he always wants to be seen as the good one. He always wants favors from people so he can’t stand his ground as a leader. He always looks at his personal interest and not that of the Association. He doesn’t want to offend anybody but how can you be a leader without stepping on toes? I don’t know if it is true Socrate really wants to resign but I will not be surprised because Socrate is not happy about how Idikoko has made him look like a monster in the eyes of the public”, the source who is also obviously not happy told Peacefmonline.com this morning.

Meanwhile, information from other quarters also indicates that Socrate wants to resign because of misunderstanding within FIPAG and the Film Regulatory Council (FRC) over the lifting of Yvonne Nelson’s one year ban. Peacefmonline.com’s efforts to contact both Socrate and Mr. Abbey have proven futile. Keep reading for more information.