Mark Okraku-Mantey, former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has said in a recent interview on Joy FM that one of the projects he wished he could complete before leaving office was the amphitheatres.
He told Kwame Dadzie on Showbiz A-Z that the construction of the amphitheatres, which was his idea, stalled due to insufficient funding.
“[I wish I could finish] the amphitheatres because we would have added that to President Akufo-Addo’s CV. Yes, it is still his CV because he built it. Even as we exited, he got the budget, the money is there to finish it so it is still President Akufo-Addo’s achievement. But I would have loved to finish it for him to open, launch, commission in his name like President Rawlings did with the National Theatre,” he said.
When Mark was asked what prevented him from building the amphitheatres, he said, “It was budget issues.”
He added that he was happy Abla Dzifa Gomashie, a creative arts person, is now the minister in charge of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, because she would understand the needs of creatives better, serving as the main minister and not just a deputy.
Okraku-Mantey said things would have been different if he were the substantive minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture under Akufo-Addo’s administration.
“The job of a follower is to also manage your leader, which is your boss. What he believes in, you also believe in. My job is to convince him, persuade him, talk him into seeing the amphitheatre concept. The love for it will not be the same as the one who midwifed the concept.
So, if it was my baby directly and I was the one taking decisions on funding, maybe the amphitheatre would have come before some of the other projects,” he said.
The amphitheatre idea was birthed after the NPP failed to provide ultra-modern theatres for nine regions as promised. They instead resolved to establish five amphitheatres in five cities: Kumasi, Tema, Accra, Takoradi, and Tamale—but none of them was completed before the New Patriotic Party left office on January 7, 2025.
According to Mark, an amount of about $2.5 million from the World Bank was not enough for the five projects, so they had to seek an additional $700,000, which he claims is still available for the new government to use.
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