The ascension of Bice Osei Kuffour aka Obour to the Presidency of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) was heavily heralded, mostly for the fact that, he was expected to come in with a high level of youth exuberance, ingenuity and innovation that would catapult the Union to higher ground.
Since 2011, the Presidency has not been a smooth ride for Obour as he’s faced challenges and criticisms – some genuine and appropriate, others being totally inane!
Just like any other administration, Obour has had issues and those gnawing issues have been trumpeted by music industry stakeholders over the years.
Amazingly, in the last two or so months, he has come under some severe cynicism by fellow musicians on his stewardship; from Shatta Wale to A Plus and now, Kwaisey Pee is also firing salvos.
Check out some of their outbursts;
Kwaisey Pee, in chiding Obour and calling his administration the worse ever, was also ballsy enough make comparisons to the administration of the Ex-President of the Republic of Ghana, John Mahama.
“Obuor’s administration is like the NDC government led by the former President John Mahama which was kicked out, full of incompetence,” he stated.
Kontihene also calls out Obour and even mocks his looks in making his case against the Union leader.
“Obour is a big dude. I’m very disappointed in him because he’s been at the other side of the business before and according to him and his people, they think they are trying but I don’t know who they think they are deceiving. I think they are deceiving their own ideologies. They have answers to every question. The reflection of Obour’s performance reflects on the shape of his belly,” he chided.
Shatta Wale, typical of his brand, also goes on a twitter tirade and takes Obour to the cleaners.
“Ok Obuor is about to go. Musicians are fed up. Obuor is a disappointment to the youth. No musician should lie about this, we are suffering. Obuor is big gold digger in our music industry. Musicians are crying,” he posted.
There came A Plus, who was audacious enough to call the impeachment of Obour by writing an open letter addressed to Hammer of the Last 2, documenting the many ‘ills’ in Obour’s tenure and calling on music stakeholders to kick him out.
A Plus called for Obour to account for the rent being paid by some Church using the Union’s premises for worship, account for previous Ghana Music Week and accounts of the Gh c 2million from Government.
First of all, these musicians have every right to criticize Obour and his administration, regardless of whether they are active members or not – because, one of the aims of MUSIGA as captured in its Constitution, is to protect the creative and performing rights of all musicians in the country. It didn’t say ‘members’.
However, these musicians grousing over Obour and his so-called failures are just being a nuisance. They are noise-makers who are becoming overly irritating and their ravings are just nauseating!
Most of these guys are well-learned, well-read and with sharp minds but unfortunately, some of them sound like dullards when it comes to industry-related issues. They do not know which groupings are responsible for what. They mix up copyright, welfare, security and other issues relating to musicians, so, they lay blame on Obour for everything.
Unfortunately for the naysayers of Obour’s administration, they have no choice but to shut up and endure the ‘bad’ leadership for the next two (2) years when second term comes to a close. You can’t impeach him with such frivolous claims and you surely cannot prosecute him with such flippant accusations.
What is most irksome about these guys always on the neck of Obour is that; they knew that he was incompetent, irresponsible, corrupt and greedy as they always assert, yet, they gawked sheepishly as he was re-elected into Office in 2015 for another 4-year term.
They didn’t campaign against him, they didn’t offer support for his competitors and they didn’t even stand up to contest against him, especially when they act as though they know and can do better.
Let me refresh their dreary memories: At the 2015 MUSIGA Congress held at Koforidua, Obour pulled 88 votes, Gyedu Blay Ambulley and Appietus pulled 22 votes and 18 votes respectively.
This means that, this bunch of cowards, who couldn’t do anything to affect the outcome of the elections can bark all they want, but Obour is going to head the Union till 2019 – deal with it!
Annoyingly, some musicians have always been blurting about Obour and his refusal or inability to account for most of the activities the Union engages in, but, these same musicians do not know how page numbers are in the MUSIGA Constitution.
Obour will not jump when you shout accountability; he will not somersault when you shout corruption – he and the Union work with guidelines.
Let him edify these lazy musicians who do not read what the Constitution says about accountability;
Article 18: Accounts, 18.4 – “There shall be an annual audit of the books of the Union by reputable auditors appointed by the National Executive Council for submission to National Executive Council for approval. At the end of every four years this report shall be submitted to Congress.”
I am not Obour’s publicist and also not the Communications Director for the Union, so, I won’t waste my ink and tout the good things he’s achieved for the Union for the past 5 years in Office.
His administration has flaws; the communication wing of the Union has been lukewarm and sloppy for years, the Electoral College has loopholes in its structure and there are clauses in the Constitution that must be looked at, and of course, not all the activities Obour has embarked on has been meaningful to members.
Shouting on Facebook live won’t affect any change, ranting on twitter won’t send Obour away and casting slurs on his personality will not reduce his monthly allowance as President of the Union.
If you change, deal with the constitution, call for amendments and help correct the challenges the Union face. If you crave for change, stand for elections or put up and support somebody who can cause change.
The next congress to elect a new President for MUSIGA will be in 2019, either you put or shut up!
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