Notes from the Console: Tourism Ministry must catch Anas' eye

I didn’t think that Ghana would be so anxious for the date of any other event after the royal wedding.

I didn’t think any other topic would beat the overly lively conversations on social media, the debate sessions, the hashtags, and the general buzz.

Boy, did the royal wedding trend? I thought I had heard it all when a colleague at work looked at me on Monday morning and said to me, “oh you have a Meghan face”. I knew we had reached the peak of it.

So I doff my hat to the renowned and now feared investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for snatching back attention and keeping the entire nation in suspense for a while. The past few days have been quite ‘Nyantakyish’ and ‘Karbolike’. The countdown has already begun.

The enigmatic journalist in his write up stated: "It is for the sake of more sanity and transparency that I have decided to scrape clean this tainted football system for a fresh start."

Sanity and Transparency

In the midst of all the buzz, an interesting thought occurred to me. What if Anas Aremeyaw Anas did a number thirteen feature on the Tourism, Arts and Culture industry? What would we find out? Would the industry get burnt or stand the fire?

What if he started with the governing bodies? Perhaps we would know for sure if Akua Blokofe is merely being hysterical and an attention seeker as is being alleged or we’d find out for sure if the GhanaTourism Development Company (GTDC) is a haven of comfort; sponsoring fancy trips under the guise of soliciting for partnerships and opportunities as Blakofe claims.

Would the Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture be found guilty of alleged travelling pleasures? Or would we find out that the industry is rather benefiting from one travel, one contract? I’m also curious about our tourism ambassadors. Critics believe, it is just "job for the boys".

Would Anas help us find out what it really is? Will we have the honour of knowing exactly what their duties are, and what they’ve achieved thus far? Kakyire Kwame Appiah, Agya Koo, Daddy Lumba, SP Kofi Sarpong and the rest. Oh. You know Kakyire Kwame Appiah right? The singer of the popular '24th' Christmas song. That’s him; Tourism Ambassador.

Kakyire Kwame Appiah

Would Anas also help us discover exactly what the Creative Arts Council is doing? Headed by Mark Okarku Mantey with support from the President’s beautiful daughter, Gyankroma Akufo-Addo. Can we please know exactly whats happening over there? I would be glad.

Maybe we would also find out for sure if the claims by ace producer, Hammer that he has been rendered redundant and ineffective at the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), are anything to go by. Would the MUSIGA President, Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour), be vindicated through number thirteen? And would he be cleared of all ‘sikadicious’ claims? Hopefully, his potbelly would be explained as simply a consequence of eating fufu late.

How about the good old awards schemes we so revere here in Ghana? Would we watch some illegal exchanges amongst potential award winners and board members or organisers? Will Ghana find out if some award winners are truly deserving of their awards? Or they used the backdoors? Would we see some screenshots of WhatsApp messages asking some musicians and movie makers to come and pay for a plaque that should be used to reward deserving entertainers?

If we should have a number thirteen exposé in the next year, would the cup be full on entertainment pundits who lie through their teeth on air? And feed us with falsehood and flawed analyses, characterised by insults and defamation? Or Anas would come back and give us names of trustworthy pundits whose words radiate integrity and a love for the industry.

If Anas Aremeyaw Anas should hit the Tourism, Arts and Culture industry, how shaken will we be? How proud will we be? How disappointed will we be, that those who have toiled for the industry in the past, have done so in vain? Would we even have an industry any more if the truth should rip us apart as it has done to other sectors? Would the younger ones with dreams of being a part of this industry be prepared to still dive into the water after all truths are laid to bare? Are the people who have been put at the helm of affairs thinking of the next generation?

How about the pageants that have gained so much prestige over the years? The Miss Ghanas, Miss Malaikas, Miss Tourisms, Ghana's Most Beautiful. Are people paying for the crowns? Paying both in cash and in-kind? Are deserving queens being crowned? Queens with intelligence and good hearts? What would the Bimbilla boy find out?

Well, I guess we will never know until it actually happens. Or we get the answers through other means. In the meantime, I’ll be in the front seat at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on June 6, after which I’ll have an ice cream date with the man.

Yes. Why? A girl can’t be allowed to dream?

Source: Daniella Adu Asare