1 week ago
2 ARTICLE AD
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the development of the creative arts industry would be at the forefront of his government’s developmental agenda.
The sector, he noted, has collapsed under the New Patriotic Party government and would need special attention to revive the once vibrant industry.
At an engagement with creatives here in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi, on Tuesday, Mr Mahama, the presidential candidate of the NDC for next month’s election said his government would heavily invest in the sector to prop it to its previous glory.
The Black Star Experience Conference on the theme “Harnessing arts, culture and tourism for economic growth” was attended by players in the creative arts space.
According to him, the creative arts industry holds great potential for the Ghanaian economy which if harnessed would improve the standards of living for industry players.
The plan for the sector, the former president said would include the construction of a new movie theatre in the Ashanti Region.
The National Theatre in Accra, he said would be refurbished to make it responsive to current demands.
Additionally, the NDC candidate said his government would establish the film village, a one-stop shop for the production of movies.
“The film village will be the centre of film production in the country. It will have all the equipment and this will lower cost of production,” he said to the excitement of the gathering.
He said the now defunct Ghallywood Academy of Film Acting would be revamped to produce the human resource to sustain the development of the sector.
On the financial side, he said the next NDC government would operationalise the National Film Authority, establish National Film Fund, revive the Art fund and pass the Broadcasting Bill to prioritise local content on Ghanaian television channels.
A special pay per view channel, the former president said would be established to televise important state programmes with the revenue dedicated to the creative arts sector.
He said to measure the efficacy of the policies, an annual dialogue would be held with himself seated in it to ensure the programmes worked to perfection.
“We have the talent and if we promote it, we shall benefit from it greatly. We are going to work for you and with you to implement our collective vision for the creative arts sector,” he said to applause.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, KUMASI
