Sack Ras Mubarak-NUGS

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has called for the dismissal of the National Youth Authority (NYA) boss, Ras Mohammed Mubarak, over what they claim to be a blatant disregard for the interest of Ghanaian students.

At a media briefing held at the University of Ghana City Campus on Wednesday, the executive body of the student union pointed out that Ras Mubarak had deliberately refused to engage the leadership of student youth groups in the process which led to the launch of the National Youth Policy.

According to the NUGS president, in an attempt to contact Ras Mubarak for information regarding the Authority, the latter sent him a message asking him to visit the NYA website for that information and that if the student union still had questions he (Ras Mubarak) would assign officers to address such questions.

Prosper Dzitse, the NUGS President, disclosed that the student groups take serious exception to Ras Mubarak’s demeanour and “gross display of arrogance.”

“National Youth Authority is a body that is supposed to make sure that it serves as a liaison between government and the youth of this country. We don’t believe the gentleman is doing that. Ideally, he should engage the youth of this country from the stage of formulation of the national youth policy to the stage of launching. It has not been done. We want someone who will be able to engage the youth of this country in decision making to be in that position. If he cannot engage us then we do not think he is competent enough to be there. That is why we are calling for his dismissal,” Mr Dzitse stated.

DUMSOR

Mr Dzitse expressed worry over the increasingly exacerbating energy crisis, noting that it was having a devastating effect on students and the educational sector in general.

“Teaching and learning cannot go on smoothly in our schools because of the agonising intermittent power supply which to a large extent is blamable for the poor academic performance of many students lately. It is not more unusual to see students walk long distance at night in a desperate attempt to find lights so they can study. In some cases they are compelled to study by the streets of our cities, taking advantage of the streetlights.  We ask our government, for how long should this ugly spectacle continue? Must we all withdraw from school or lose our lives before government appreciates the gravity of this crisis and do something about it,” he quizzed.

He called on government to treat the energy crisis as a matter of urgency since energy remains the number one driver of our economy.

EMPLOYMENT

The union also pleaded with organisations and employers to stop demanding for graduates with two to five years working experience on the job market since it was impossible to get fresh graduates with such experiences.

“If you do not have space to employ us say it. How can you be asking for two to five years working experience? Where does industry expect us to get such experience from as fresh graduates? Absolutely unfair, to say the least. Sacrifice some resources in equipping us with the needed technical skills and help the academia identify your needs.”

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‘Name UG After JB Danquah’

Professor Kodwo Ewusi, Dean of Graduate Studies at the Methodist University College, has called on government to rename the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, after Dr. Joseph Boakye (JB) Danquah.

He proposed UG should be called JB Danquah University of Ghana because of the late statesman’s immense contribution to the establishment of Ghana’s premier university.

Speaking at the 48th JB Danquah memorial lectures at the British Council in Accra on Monday, Prof. Ewusi, who is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (FGA), stated that Dr. Danquah put up strong arguments which persuaded the then British government to accept the majority report in establishing UG in 1984.

“Among his illustrious accomplishments was his unyielding fight to help with the establishment of the university here in Ghana in 1948. The British government accepted a minority report that they should not establish universities in all the West African States but they should establish only one university in Nigeria. Against this, Dr Danquah argued in the legislature, he also argued in seminars. Finally, the British government was persuaded to accept the majority report to establish the University of Ghana. But let me suggest here now that for this contribution, I think that the university of Ghana should indeed be called JB Danquah University of Ghana,” Prof. Ewusi recounted.

The Memorial Lecture Series was instituted in 1968 in memory of Dr. JB Danquah, who died in detention in February 1965, fighting for freedom in all its manifestations, during the reign of Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

It is an annual event held to contribute actively to the development of Ghana and Africa generally by examining and addressing critical issues of development.

This year’s memorial lecture, which was under the theme, ‘Human Capital and Economic Growth in Ghana,’ brought together personalities like Nana Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party; Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party and Prof. Akilakpa Sawyer, the President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, among others.

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CPP Lashes NDC

At the commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the overthrow of the first president of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which was marked with a protest in Accra yesterday, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) launched a scathing attack on the National Democratic Congress (NDC), accusing it of trying to destabilize the CPP.

According to the CPP, the protest by the youth league of the party at the Obra Spot in Accra was to demand the release of the party’s assets across the country, which were confiscated after the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah in a coup d’etat led by Col. E.K. Kotoka on February 24, 1966; and also to seek justice for Ghanaians in the economic, social and political spheres.

“After the illegal overthrow of the CPP government and Nkrumah, they confiscated everything that belonged to individuals and the party and that is why we are here today. We are asking them to release our assets because we built our own party offices from our own pockets. We are not fighting for Nsawam Cannery and the rest because those ones were for the state; but these assets we are asking for belong to the CPP just like any political party would build their party headquarters. Why should we build houses and somebody else confiscates them?  It is clear the NDC does not want us to rise because they sold more of the state enterprises to themselves. I call the NDC Trojan horses,” Madam Lucy Anin, a member of the Council of Elders for  the CPP, told DAILY GUIDE  at the event dubbed, ‘Justice Protest.’

The assets include the current Ministry of Information building, the Ashanti Regional education office, the Eastern Region municipal education office and the premises of the Sunyani Regional Police Command, among others.

Ernesto Yeboah, Deputy National Youth Organizer for CPP, disclosed that the protest was part of a multi-disciplinary approach the party had planned to ensure that justice was handed to it.

“All these assets have been confiscated and then we are asked to compete freely and fairly with other political parties in an election. This is certainly not democracy but hypocrisy. We are leaving no stone unturned. As we speak, negotiations have gone on with almost every government that we have had in the 4th Republic. Our legal affairs committee is already in court and also the youth of the party present here are engaging in this massive protest all to send the message down home to the people of Ghana that injustice is being done against all of us,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Accra Central District Commander for the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Aboagye Sarpong, who was present with a host of police personnel,  commended the CPP for following the instructions handed over to them by the police.

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Paint True Image Of Ghana In Your Films -Deputy Minister Tells Producers

The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie, has urged the film producers to put out a true reflection of Ghana in their films in order to help project the country to the world.

The deputy minister was speaking at a three-day training programme organised by Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) with assistance from the Canadian High Commission.

She stated that sometimes the names of characters and costumes used in Ghanaian films could help a foreigner assess the country and its values.

“When you get the opportunity to write a script or stand behind a camera and you don’t paint a picture of yourself, but to reinforce the image of another person, what you are doing is building that person’s economy against yours. In my village in Aflao, we don’t dress as a queen and have beads on our foreheads and so on. But it happens in other countries like India and the rest. If I’m dressing in a film as a Ghanaian queen, it should be a true reflection of what really is so that when the queen mothers in Aflao see me, they can identify with that queen mother character and say oh yes this is us. But if I dress like an Indian queen mother, how would they identify with me? In any case, that is going to influence somebody to purchase that kind of dressing. That is not Ghanaian and by doing that I would be bringing down the Ghanaian economy,” the retired actress told NEWS-ONE.

Dzifa Gomashie added that through films countries like the United States have succeeded in creating for themselves images that most people want to be part of.

“America has created an image for itself that we all believe in and want to be a part of. Nigeria created an image of itself through the movies so much that I was afraid of going to Nigeria until I went there recently and I realised that I had never seen the image of Victoria Island in any Nigerian movie. They mostly show me only rural Nigeria and maybe the kind of things they are doing in the movies now are not even done anymore but that is the picture they have painted,” she said.

She urged the producers not to succumb to the pressures of their patrons but rather produce movies that project the true image of Ghana, which would allow us plant ourselves in the world space to ensure that our identity is protected.

“If I’m demanding something and I don’t get it, I will make do with what I have. Why should we allow ourselves to get lost in the global culture and not contribute to it? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognise that we are not the same, that we are different and it’s beautiful. It is important for us to want to find space in the world space and also plant ourselves within it and not allow the world to swallow us up and we don’t have an identity anymore. That is my worry,” she noted.

However, Christopher Thornley, the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, disclosed that he was impressed with how vibrant the Ghanaian movie industry had become, adding that there was a greater opportunity for economic development driven by the film industry.

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Majid, Rukky Sanda Team Up For ‘If You Were Mine'

Majid Michel and Rukky Sanda

Award winning actor Majid Michel has teamed up with Nigerian actress Rukky Sanda in an upcoming movie titled ‘If You Were Mine’.

The movie, written and directed by multiple awards winning director Pascal Amanfo, is expected to be premiered on February 21 at the National Theatre.

According to BarCo Studio, the production house responsible for the production, the movie would be a page-turner that would provide patrons a mind-blowing experience from beginning to end.

The movie is about a young man who met a mysterious lady at a nightclub and before the night ended, they both found themselves in bed.

The ‘If You Were Mine’ movie brought together a team of crème de la crème movie stars from both Ghana and Nigeria.

They include Majid Michel, Rukky Sanda, Kweku Elliott, Roselyn Ngissah, Salma Mumin and Pascal Amanfo among others.

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Kojo Antwi Wins…Becomes First Elected GHAMRO Boss

Kojo Antwi

Music maestro Kojo Antwi emerged the first elected Management Board Chairman for the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) at Wednesday’s polls.

“I am humbled by the confidence entrusted in me by the music right owners in Ghana. I want to assure all Ghanaians and the international copyright community that from today, they will see a different GHAMRO professionally run and focused on producing results for the right owners. I am happy with the quality of persons on the board and we are ready to go,” Kojo Antwi noted in his speech at his swearing in.

GHAMRO is Ghana’s only government approved copyright organisation for music right owners in the country responsible for collecting and distributing royalties to music right owners.

Wednesday’s polls took place simultaneously in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale under the supervision of the Electoral Commission of Ghana. When the results were collated and announced,  positions for the new GHAMRO Board had been won by Nana Tuffour, Ahmed Banda (Bandex), Diana Hopeson, Mary Ghamsah, Bessa Simon, Zapp Mallet, Augustina Addison, Nana Kwaku Duah (Tic Tac), Benjamin Mensah, Manu Francis, Amponsah Seth and Reverend Francis Boahene.

However, Randy Noonoo, who contested for deputy chairmanship but lost to James Nana Tuffour, has alleged the polls were rigged and claims he has evidence that non members of the organisation were allowed to vote.

But according to Enock Agyepong, a member of the Board, it was impossible for non members to have voted in an Electoral Commission (EC) organised elections.

“In my opinion, I think he is acting as a bad loser. He is the only person complaining now. When Randy won in Accra, he was happy but he forgot Nana Tuffour’s strong hold was in Kumasi so I don’t know why all of a sudden he is complaining about Kumasi and Tamale. It is the EC that held the elections and we only supervised. Is he saying that the EC was the one who rigged the elections,” Mr Agyepong quizzed.

Results from the elections supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC) saw Randy amassing 114 votes in Accra, 34 votes in Tamale and 48 votes in Kumasi, totalling 196 votes in all. Nana Tuffour, on the other hand, got 96 votes in Accra, 147 votes in Tamale and 146 votes in Kumasi, which added up to 389 votes in all.

“If he says we had people who were not right owners voting, that is absolutely not true because there was a register provided for EC and that is what they used to conduct the elections. So I don’t know what he is talking about. It is not fair to the EC and then the interim board. He is just a bad loser that is all,” he told NEWS-ONE.

Enock Agyepong observed that the elections had a massive turnout in all regions, which in his opinion made the elections very successful.

“The GHAMRO election was very successful. For me, I was quite surprised because I didn’t expect such massive turnout. What I saw was very encouraging,” he added.

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Fifty Shades Of Grey Dominates At Box Office

Fifty Shades Of Grey has sizzled at the box office with the best international opening for an R-rated film ever.

In North America the erotic drama earned an estimated $81.7m (£53m) in its first three days, distributor Universal Pictures said on Sunday.

In addition to destroying Valentine's and Presidents Day weekend records, it has also become the second-highest February debut ever, behind Passion Of The Christ's $83.9m opening in 2004.

The chart-topping film, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, cost a modest $40m (£26m) to produce and could be on track to earn over $90m (£58.4m) across the US's four-day holiday weekend.

"Our fondest wishes were realised," said Universal's President of Domestic Distribution Nick Carpou.

"This is one of those moments where I can speak for the entire studio and say we're celebrating."

According to Universal, North American audiences were 68% female.

Internationally, director Sam Taylor-Johnson's adaptation of British author E L James' book earned an estimated $158m (£106.6m) from 9,637 locations in 58 territories outside of the US.

It is the second biggest international opening for Universal, right behind the $160.3m debut from Fast & Furious 6, and the highest ever international opening for an R-rated film.

"Those are summer-style blockbuster numbers in February," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office firm Rentrak.

"Controversy, or at least the conversation that's created by Fifty Shades Of Grey, suddenly infuses this movie into the mainstream conversation," he added.

"They had to very carefully create a movie that was edgy, push the envelope, but without going too far to make it socially unacceptable."

Director Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, starring Colin Firth, also exceeded expectations, landing in second place with an estimated $35.6m (£23m) from 3,204 locations in the US across the three-day period, according to Rentrak.

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GHAMRO Is Corrupt -Wanlov

AFRO-GYPSY musician Wanlov the Kubolor says until the issue of corruption, which pervades all aspects of society, is dealt with once and for all, the collection and distributing process of royalties by the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) would never be fair and transparent.

The issue of fairness, transparency and equity in the distribution of royalties among music right owners has been of grave concern to various musicians because the process was mismanaged in the past.

“Corruption reflects on all levels from the ground to the topmost level. When you see the ‘borla’ in the gutters and the police and the politicians being unlawful and taking monies that do not belong to them… All those things would have to be fixed simultaneously.

Unless those things are done at the same time, the royalty and music collection societies in Ghana will also be corrupt,” Wanlov told NEWS-ONE.

Wanlov disclosed that he was currently registered with the Performing Right Society (PRS) for Music in UK which enables him receive royalties anytime his music is played anywhere in the world apart from Africa.

“I’m registered with PRS in UK. With that, everywhere in the world—apart from most countries in Africa—where my music is played, PRS collects the royalties and sends them to me,” he stated.

However, the ‘Green Card’ hit maker added that most radio stations in Ghana refuse to submit their playlists and pay royalties to the international collection bodies, noting that it is against the law because it amounts to stealing from artistes.

“Most of the radio stations in Africa are illegal and they do not also report their playlist or pay the royalties for the musicians to collect with their collection agencies. As we speak, there is no one radio station in Ghana that pays royalties to any international body, which is against the law because you are stealing from the artiste,” he said.

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Stop Showing Ghanaian Movies In ‘Trotro’ -FIPAG Boss Warns

Steve Asare Hackman

The Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) has warned transport agencies and commercial bus drivers to stop airing Ghanaian movies to passengers onboard their vehicles or be prepared to pay royalties for the films or face the wrath of the law.

Steve Asare Hackman, president of FIPAG, issued the warning and said the 2005 Copyright Law Act 690 mandates every individual who shows a Ghanaian movie for commercial purposes to pay some form of royalty to the owner of that film.

“Once a film producer registers his film at ARSOG, based upon the number of works that you have registered, the board would allocate a percentage of the royalties they collect annually to that producer. The law defines the first user as the one showing the movies for free and the second user as the one collecting money before showing the movie. The buses fall under the second users because the drivers show the movies while passengers pay to be onboard that bus; therefore they are expected to pay royalties to the producers,” Mr Hackman told NEWS-ONE.

Mr Asare said FIPAG, together with the Audio Visual Right Society Of Ghana (ARSOG) board, has instructed all commercial bus drivers who show films in their buses to pay a fixed rate annually to ARSOG.

“As we speak currently, majority of them are willing to pay but those who are not willing to pay will be prosecuted by the law. For now, the Audio Visual Right Society Of Ghana (ARSOG) board has given a flat rate to the buses. Each bus is expected to pay GH¢20 for registration and GH¢25 for royalties. Therefore, in all, each bus is expected to pay GH¢45 for the first year and GH¢ 25 in the subsequent year,” he stated.

However, the FIPAG boss admitted that though the showing of Ghanaian films in buses was a way of promoting the film industry, his administration and ARSOG were interested in the collection and payment of monies due movie producers.

“Each bus driver that registers and pays the annual levy would be given a sticker which would help us differentiate them from those who have not paid.

Because it is a law, it is empowered by the state so the police would be informed and they would mount random checks. If you are caught, you would be sent to court and prosecuted accordingly,” he noted.

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Energy Crisis Is Tormenting Creative Industry -Wanlov

Wanlov

Outspoken Ghanaian musician Wanlov the Kubolor has lamented that the worsening situation of the energy crisis in Ghana is having an adverse impact on the country’s creative arts industry.

According to Wanlov, a lot of musicians keep postponing their recording sessions and projects while entertainment events and concert organisers also keep cancelling shows due to the erratic power supply.

“Our industry is just as reliable on electricity as the food industry and so on.The ‘dumsor’ has already affected we the people in the creative industry in many ways. A lot of projects could not go on. We keep postponing our recordings because of the lights off. Some studios which record and mix daily are not able to make their money anymore because most of these studios cannot mix or record with generators and the noise it generates,” Wanlov told NEWS-ONE.

“Recently I was on Yaw Sakyi’s Basketball show on TV3 and the lights went off three times during the transmission. The incident affected the production because they lost some time and I’m sure they lost some viewers too who would change their TV sets to a different channel,” the ‘Beatrice’ hit singer recounted.

The barefoot-walking musician recommended that in this part of the world where there is constant sunlight, it was about time estate developers and the government incorporated solar panels into their designs so that individuals could generate power by themselves.

“In this part of Ghana, we are struggling with electricity. All these new buildings, estates and complexes, they need to start incorporating solar panels into their designs so they can power themselves and not have to connect to the national grid because these generators are polluting the environment,” he stated.

The power crisis has intensified in recent times, with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) now providing most Ghanaians with only 12 hours of electricity.

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