MUSIGA spent GH¢ 800,000 of GH¢2m gov’t fund on research alone – Obour

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]takeholders of the music industry may now heave a sigh of relief as their quest to know how the GH¢ 2 million given the music sector by the government in 2012 was used, is gradually being satisfied.
The President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) Bice ‘Obour’ Osei Kuffuor has revealed to Accra-based Starr FM that only GHC 800,000 out of the GH¢ 2m was spent to conduct a research into the Gross Domestic Product of the music sector.

“We received one million first and [with] this one million, part [of it] commissioned the study into the music sector. Out of the entire 2 million about 800, 000 was spent on the study. The study was done by KPMG…a comprehensive study of the music sector,” he said.

The research which was aimed at providing a baseline data on the music industry, explaining the structure and functioning of Ghana’s music industry and making recommendations to stakeholders and government on the way forward with the industry, concluded that the sector adds approximately GH¢93 million to the GDP of Ghana, representing 0.13 percent of the 2012 GDP at current prices.

He also stated that another GHC 800, 000 of the money was also spent on the first edition of the Ghana music festival.

“About another GHC 800, 000 was spent on the first Ghana music week festival…which we accounted for and it was out there in the public,” he added.
He, however, refuted claims by the public that he had misappropriated the fiscal budget money and intimated that the union has improved tremendously under his leadership.

In the meantime, it is not clear what the remainder GH¢ 400, 000 was used for. Citi Showbiz will nose out details of this matter soon.