Mr. Beautiful
Ghanaian actor and comedian, Clement Bonney, popularly known as Mr. Beautiful, has questioned whether the country’s entertainment sector has a structured creative arts industry.
Speaking on the announcement made by President John Mahama concerning the injection of GH¢40 million into Ghana’s creative arts industry, Mr. Beautiful questioned whether there is an industry to utilise the allocation to revamp the industry.
Mr. Beautiful, who is part of a 12-member team collaborating closely with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts as part of the Creative Arts Agency board’s mandate, also said that many governments come and go without necessarily supporting the sector because of the poor operationalisation of the creative arts agencies established by the state.
“But my problem is, are we creative arts people being creative enough for our industry, because nothing is happening? Do we even have an industry? For me, I’m happy for the President’s intervention because this is the first time we have a President who has a great relationship with creative arts individuals.
“As I’m talking to you, people have been appointed for the creative arts, but the question is: are they being creative? Regarding the money, don’t think we are being creative enough. How can we use the money to elevate our status? We need details on the usage of the money allocation,” he said during a panel discussion on UTV’s United Showbiz last Saturday.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament last Friday, President Mahama indicated that half of the funds are earmarked specifically for the country’s struggling film sectors.
The President also added that, “Mr. Speaker, our tourism and creative arts sector has a lot to offer.”
“Our economy will not be built only by traditional sectors but also by human creativity. Human creativity sectors that will absorb those people who will be displaced from the shortfall by the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that are being rolled out.”
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke