Nana Adjoa Adobea Asante
The National Folklore Board has urged organisations that use the country’s cultural symbols as logos and other forms of decoration to pay their due royalties to the board.
This is in accordance with a directive on the use of such symbols in Ghana, which has been in existence since 2005.
Acting Director of the National Folklore Board, Nana Adjoa Adobea Asante, said this on Friday in Accra when she presented certificates to a number of organisations to reward their compliance with the directive.
She stated that such funds were needful because they “are basically used in the promotion of our local arts.”
Madam Asante said while the local arts comprise an area that holds great prospects for employment and wealth generation, the potential of the sector is not adequately tapped.
She called on organisations to contribute to such a noble cause because such contributions would, in the long term, promote the socio-economic growth and stability of the country.
Madam Asante said organisations which failed to heed the directive on payment of royalties to the board have a grace period to redeem their image, adding that when the period of leniency is over, failure to comply with the directive could attract a three-year imprisonment or a GH¢12,000 fine.
She said the rich cultural heritage of Ghana can be put to productive use and ultimately promote national growth.
The companies honoured with the certificates were Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel, the Ghana Stock Exchange and MTN Ghana.
The National Folklore Board is a statutory body with the primary aim of protecting and promoting the folklore of Ghana.
Folklore in Ghana is defined as set of traditional beliefs and customs of a community that may be preserved by an ethnic group or a Ghanaian author.