MUSICIANS Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) presidential aspirant, Ras Caleb Appiah-Levi, has promised to break what he describes as a ‘cartel’ within the union when he is given the nod.
Mr Appiah-Levi who is currently the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of MUSIGA believes until the ‘cartel’ is destroyed, the union will continue to see very little progress although it has the potential to be very rewarding for all its members.
Speaking to Graphic Showbiz in an interview, Mr Appiah-Levi said when elected as president, he would deal with what he calls the rot in MUSIGA and restore it to its rightful place in the development agenda of Ghana.
“MUSIGA has lots of potentials and its members should be better off than they are now. This is because there is cartel at MUSIGA who have hijacked the union and using it for their personal gain.”
“But all that will end when I am elected president. The fortunes of the union will surely turn around because my administration will end the operations of any cartel in the union stifling the industry’s growth.
“You see, members of the ‘cartel’ have little regard for the industry’s growth and my goal is to break up this group. They treat the union like their personal property and it is unhealthy,” he said.
Also, Mr Appiah-Levi, who is a songwriter-composer-arranger-singer-performer-Roots Reggae artiste, added that among his many plans for the union when he was elected would be to bring all musicians in the country together and ensure they make good gains from their works.
“As we know, globally, the music industry is a multi-billion dollar business, and as the President for the Union, my executives and I will set up a MUSIGA Progressive Team (MUPROT), which will comprise all the national and regional executives and some core members.
“They will work together as a body to acquire vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles and office equipment for MUSIGA national, regional branches and district chapters secretariats’ operations and membership-drive outreach activities,” he noted.
Interestingly, the multi-hyphenate Mr Appiah-Levi, who eagerly seeks to be elected president of the union as well as others have placed
a number of court injunctions on the elections of MUSIGA stalling the coming into office of a new administration since the last one left office about three years ago.
Explaining his motives, he said his actions were driven by his good conscience to seek accountability from the current leadership.
“There is too much rot in MUSIGA. The union is very rich but unfortunately, we can’t even boast of an edifice of our own. I was actively involved in activities of the last administration and I can tell you that the union get lots of donations.
“How are all these accounted for? How was the GH¢2M the Atta Mills/Mahama administration gave to the union used? What about funds from donor countries?
"Come on, someone should be held accountable. I am tired of talking about the rot and lamenting the misfortunes of the union but someone got to stand up for the truth,” he said.
In May this year, the Chairman of the National Elections Committee of the Union, Peter Marfo, announced that the exhibition of the voter’s register with 700 members ended on Friday, April 22.
The new development was thought to finally usher in the announcement of a new date but MUSIGA has been rocked with a new injunction, once again stalling the elections.
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