Wazumbi (4th from left) presenting the group’s award to Bessa Simons. With them are some members of the Wazumbians
The Acting President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Bessa Simons, has on behalf of the union congratulated the Wazumbians for their impressive presentations during the band’s recent tour of the United States.
The tour, which started in mid-July and lasted till end of September, saw the band perform in New York, Philadelphia, Idaho and Virginia. It culminated in an award for the group at the 6th Annual African World Peace Festival (AWPF) at Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The AWPF organisers, led by Dr. Isabella Effon with support from the Mayor of North Carolina, Mitch Colvin, honoured the Wazumbians for the well-crafted African rhythms dished out and the buzz they created in Fayetteville and North Carolina in general during the three-day AWPF festival.
The Wazumbians paid a courtesy call and presented their award to the Acting MUSIGA President at the union’s head office in Accra on Tuesday, October 11. Bessa Simons congratulated the band for being worthy ambassadors of music from Ghana during their US tour, and urged them to keep up the good work.
The band, through its leader Francis Chapman Abban-Hagan, better known as Wazumbi, presented an amount of GH¢1,000 to the Ageing Musicians Welfare Fund (AMWEF) which raises funds through MUSIGA to support ageing musicians.
“MUSIGA supports us all the time. The amount is just a token of our appreciation for that because the union gives us attention whenever necessary,” Wazumbi said during the presentation which had MUSIGA’s National Welfare Officer, Ben Kolan, in attendance.
Wazumbi was accompanied to the MUSIGA office by other members of the group, some of whom were not part of the American tour.
He explained that the Wazumbians is a sizable entity of musicians and dancers and specific gigs determined which performers to be deployed.
“We had planned to move on to Canada, France and Denmark from the US, but there were a few hitches so we are back in Accra for now. Hopefully, we can iron out the outstanding issues and resume touring again from the US before the end of this year,” Wazumbi stated.
He was grateful to his promoting agency for the wonderful support it has been giving to the band.
Meanwhile, the Wazumbians will stage a performance of African music and dance called ‘The Jankalanga Show’ live on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram at 10.00pm on October 21.
By George Clifford Owusu