She expressed her concerns after organizing a recent play at the National Theatre.

She lamented the lack of support for creatives striving to sustain the industry and generate employment, highlighting the onerous processes they endure, leading to financial losses.

In an illustrative instance, she cited her recent stage play, “Kosua ne M?ko,” revealing that GRA officials were stationed at the National Theatre entrance to deduct 21% from all tickets sold. She was particularly troubled that GRA even imposed a 21% tax on complimentary tickets she distributed for free.

Justina stressed that such government measures, coupled with the existing struggles of Ghana’s creative industry, have further aggravated the situation, causing immense hardship for many creatives.

“I staged my play, “Kosua ne M?ko” on 30th April 2023 at the National Theatre of Ghana. On the said date, two officials from the GRA came to sit at the entrance of the auditorium, throughout the entire duration of the production and counted tickets as the audience queued to enter, without necessarily distinguishing complimentary tickets from priced ones. They informed me that they were going to deduct 21% from the tickets counted, which was very new to me. I had been staging plays consistently in the last 7 years and this was the first time I had encountered such. My exact sentiment was that if this was new, then 21% is too high a starting point. From 0% taxes to 21% was quite overwhelming, especially when I had already paid GH¢12,500 to use the auditorium which is a state facility, of which I had been informed was tax inclusive”.

She also mentioned the difficulties in securing suitable venues for their shows.

Additionally, she described how young creatives are required to pay GH¢8,500 to use the National Theatre’s main auditorium for 2 hours, and GH¢12,500 for four hours with a surcharge of GHC 1000 for every extra hour.

As the founder and creative lead of Sajurst Storyforest, she pointed out that her production expenses escalated due to the need to provide air conditioning due to the theatre’s faulty systems. Furthermore, she had to allocate an additional GH¢6000 – GH¢8000 for backup power supply (a generator), adding to the financial burden.

“My encounter with using the National Theatre for my production was a very poor one. The level of monopoly of the facility is very glaring, judging from how poorly the place is maintained, among others. From filthy carpets to foul smells and inadequate power supply, including poor lighting and ventilation, the national theatre is indeed in a sorry state. After paying the said amount to book the place, I was casually informed that the ACs were inadequate, and so I had to rent extra ones. I was also told that the standby generator was faulty and that meant that I needed to rent a power backup just so that my live theatre event wasn’t truncated by the unreliable power supply in the country. These extra costs brought the total amount of securing the venue to about GHC 25,000 which was expected to be borne by me as a young creative trying to do something for myself, the society and creating employment. This was not the only cost involved in putting up the entire production, and my only hope of recouping this investment was the money to be accrued from my ticket sales, only to be informed of a 21% tax deduction. How then is the government encouraging success in the creative sector?”

Speaking to Citi News, she questioned why the government has not introduced more favourable policies, such as offering tax exemptions to creatives and reducing the cost of renting state facilities like the National Theatre.

The author of “Many Mad, Few Naked” urgently called on authorities to implement measures to alleviate the suffering of individuals in the creative industry, aiming to prevent its potential collapse.

“I suggest that these taxes be scraped off and that state facilities such as the National Theatre should be a friendlier environment for hosting events”.