According to him, the change will help serve the needs of the industry, enabling it to flourish with more income and revenue.

Speaking with Merqury Quaye on Cruise Control, he explained practically how this could be achieved, highlighting that ‘change is a key to new life’.

“What are the leaderships? What are the structures? The creative industry needs an overhauling in leadership. We ‘Ghana’ are rich, but poor in leadership’.

“Say Hitz FM is in bad shape with dirty microphones, etc. If I change the leader who is managing the place, we now see a plasma TV, a centre, monitoring what is happening, and people transmitting all the things.

“You will then get to understand the value of Hitz FM. Sooner or later, adverts will start to come in and you will make money, salaries will also increase,” he explained.

He also added that Ghana has lost its ideals when it comes to partnering with foreign countries.

According to him, Ghanaians are directly and indirectly influenced which has affected our economic growth and financial stability.

“Ghana is lost and it is really sad. Somebody needs to find her. We don’t even believe in the Ghanaian potential anymore because the country has been taken over by foreigners”.

“We are becoming the 21^st century slaves, neo colonialism and that is what late president Kwame Nkrumah said. Politicians do not understand even though they are the cause of it, but it is happening.

“You don’t partner and everything is being taken away from you,” he stated.

He, however, admonished young individuals in the creative industry to master the act of self-generation and authenticity when it comes to their content.

“Creativity is an act of love, understanding, will and power. Begin to do things differently, act differently, and do not wait for people to do things before you, but rather, do things for others to copy.

“If you copy, you become second but if you are creative in the arts industry, you become so well and that’s why Dubai is doing so well”, he added.

The forum, which will be in a form of a webinar, will be held from 3:pm to 5:pm via zoom.

This move is in tandem with the quest of the association to engage with stakeholders of the arts, tourism and culture sectors, to know how they are faring, ask questions, and proffer ideas to them.

Mark Okraku Mantey, the Interim President of the Creative Arts Council will walk the members through the operations of the arts sector.

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This is just one of the activities lined up by ATWAG for the rest of the year.

There will also be separate webinars on culture, tourism, good writing skills and blogging, in the course of the year.

Apart from these, ATWAG has planned, as part of the activities, to hold an encounter with the political parties later in the year. This will be a platform to engage the political parties on what they have in their manifestos for the arts.

About ATWAG

The Arts and Tourism Writers Association of Ghana (ATWAG) is an association of Ghanaian arts writers/journalists and media workers.

ATWAG seeks to promote arts, tourism and culture reporting in Ghana while developing the professional capacity and the welfare of its members.

ATWAG is also aimed at promoting co-operation and collaboration among its members and players in the arts, tourism and culture value chain.