Entertainment of Thursday, 28 August 2014

Source: Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

Deja vu hits interim GHAMRO Board?

It appears the new Interim Board of the Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO) that recently replaced the Carlos Sekyi-led Board may be the worst thing that happened to the Organisation.

The old GHAMRO administration were kicked out of office by a human rights court over certain grieving concerns which include overstaying their tenure of office, a campaign for fairness, transparency and equity in the distribution of royalties.

The new interim board, made up of Enoch Agyepong, Nana Aboagye Dacosta and Kwame Nsiah Apau, also known as Okyeame Kwame, are expected to operate for six months to ensure that structures are put in place for proper elections to be conducted.

The election is to elect a permanent board for GHAMRO and act as receivers and managers of the organisation.

But Okyeame Kwame, the Public Relations Officer of the new board, in his recent write-up on his blog stated that his fears for the interim board were some questions like; “Do we have enough time? Can we be different from our predecessors? Can this be the last AGITATION?”

From Okyeame Kwame’s views, it appears the interim board was indirectly asking for more time to put in place the right structures and recommendations before proper elections are conducted to elect a permanent board for the organisation.

A stunt the previous administration adopted to enable them overstay the tenure.

Also, Okyeame Kwame’s fear of whether the interim board can be different from their predecessors could suggest a literal déjà vu, which could be disastrous for stakeholders in the industry.

Most of these right owners have not received a penny for their works, which are used commercially.

Some right owners are of the view that the six months allocated to the interim board by the Human Rights Court is enough to deal with all of Okyeame Kwame’s proposed fears.

However, the right owners and stakeholders should be on the lookout to prevent the woes of the previous administration from spreading like a dangerous cancer to this interim board.

The activities of the interim board should be closely monitored by all stakeholders to avert the pending déjà vu.