Veteran actor Fred Amugi, who is also a great friend to late former president Jerry John Rawlings, says they were preparing to feature the two-term president and two-time coup leader in a movie when he took ill.

He said they were confident he would return to cast in the movie but on Thursday, November 12 they heard the news that the former president was no more.

Fred Amugi was speaking on Simply Showbiz on TV3 Saturday, November 14.

He, together with Alhaji Sidiku Buari, the premier President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), was talking about the contribution of the late former president in the arts and entertainment sector on the show hosted by MzGee.

“I keep saying [Jerry John Rawlings] was the very person who made drama die and he was the same person who resurrected the theatre by putting up the National Theatre,” the former President of the Ghana Actors Guild (GAG) admitted.

He explained that the coup d’etats that the then Flight Lieutenant launched “made us sleep early”.

“So, there were no rehearsals for drama like it used to be. It took a long time before we were all ‘opened’ and at that time the enthusiasm with which people loved drama had died.”

He said in those halcyon days, there was a stage drama almost every weekend at the Arts Centre until the coup brought with it the curfew.

On his part, Alhaji Sidiku Buari, who composed ‘Revolution’ for the June 4 revolutionary, to hail his action in 1979, said MUSIGA owes its current existence to Flt. Lt (rtd) Jerry John Rawlings.

“Seriously, the man was so open to the musicians and he loved the musicians,” he revealed.

“We have really lost somebody that actually was a factor to make the union what it is today.”