After a successful inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as the 6th President of the 4th Republic of Ghana, he is expected to make appointments for various positions.
For players in the Cultural and Creative Industries, who becomes the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Mahama’s second administration is very crucial. This particular ministry (formerly known as Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts) was created by John Mahama when he first assumed the reins of government in 2013. Hitherto, there was a separate ministry for tourism, and culture was affixed to the chieftaincy ministry. Arts was conspicuously missing from the equation.
This action by John Mahama was possibly precipitated by calls from creative arts industry stakeholders to either have an autonomous ministry for their sector or be adjoined to one that prominently aligned with its characteristics. While some people have argued that arts and culture be separated from tourism in that ministry, research proves that tourism is coterminous with arts culture and heritage; these elements are the engine of tourism.
This Trinity Ministry for the Orange Economy, since its inception has made some strides and shows signs of being very productive if it is handled better. While the tourism sector is more organised and structured, the culture and creative sectors are now at the “norming” stage where better legal frameworks and other documents are being fashioned out to make it more functional. This process started in Mahama’s first term when the “storming” and “forming” of the sector took place.
The New Patriotic Party also continued with the process with some interventions and commitments, but to expedite action on activities in the ministry, we don’t just need a minister; we need a minister that understands the space of tourism, arts and culture; one that would know his way around in the scheme of things, one that wouldn’t take three years to acquaint him or herself with how the industry works, one that will not feel insecure working with a deputy that is creative arts savvy, one that will prove to the world this industry is really a cash cow.
In my previous article titled ‘10 things Mahama must do in his first year’, I indicated that the President should appoint someone from the industry or someone who understands the operation and business of the turf as the minister. More importantly, I suggested that the President should not even appoint any deputy minister.