1st TERM ACHIEVEMENTS AND MANIFESTO
The President Obour led administration have chalked many successes and created many industry firsts in the development of Musiga and the music industry as a whole. From; making Musiga a household name, providing jobs for musicians, organizing capacity building workshops, artiste development fora, providing effective administration and transparent governance, Development of new website and other social media platforms(Facebook, Twitter, what’s app etc) To; creating international partnerships and affiliations, protection for members, providing support to regional offices, organizing peace campaigns , creating platforms to promote members, remaining as a strong voice for the music profession etc.
LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Effective rebranding of Musiga- the Union have become more attractive to industry players and other stakeholders. This has been achieved through effective PR and marketing initiatives.
2. Membership categorization with accompanying benefits (including legal advice,facilitation in musical works registration and royalty collection, discounted services eg. health insurance,group life insurance etc),Re-registration of over 1,000 members, establishment of new membership database and increase in membership by 200 percent.
3. Establishment of the Ageing Musicians Welfare Fund and yearly distribution of support to members and holding of medical screening exercise for beneficiaries- Over 200 musicians have benefitted from the AMWEF Fund.
4. Effective Collective Rights Management( GHAMRO) – the Union led the revolution to achieving an effective administration for Ghamro in line with accepted standard international practices.
5. MUSIGA ACADEMY – Collaboration with School of Performing Arts (S.P.A) and National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) to provide professional training and skills for players in the Music Industry.
6. Comprehensive Survey on Music Industry in Ghana to identify the economic contribution of the sector to GDP and also to advise policy direction and public and private investment in the music sector.
7. Government subvention of 2 Million Ghana Cedis – The Union for the first time was able to access government funding through a budgetary allocation for research, music fair & peace campaign , capacity building and project administration.
8. Establishment of the Midland- Musiga Ajumapa Business Loans – a low interest and relatively collateral free loan to enable Musiga members access funds for their projects.
9. Institutionalization of Ghana Music Week Festival, Musiga Grand Ball and Asanteman Arts Ball and Awards as event brands to raise funds for Union projects and to promote and create jobs for members.
10. Formalization of Ghana music awards arrangement with Charterhouse and Provision of car prize for chosen VGMA winners over last three years. For the first time, A formal agreement was signed between Charterhouse and Musiga on the organization of the Ghana Music Awards scheme.
11. Regional Support for Capacity Building – During the 1st term of the leadership of Obour, an amount of GHc 100,000.00 was distributed among the 10 regional offices of Musiga for capacity building and development projects.
All the above went on in a bid to solidify the Union in terms of structures and programs, the welfare and direct benefit to members was also highly considered.
It is important to note that there is not a single organization or union in Ghana that has been able to secure such a deal like the Ajumapa Loan where only an introduction letter from a Union could guarantee members a loan. Financial institutions give loans solely on the viability of the individual seeking the loan and as such the onus of proving eligibility for loan rests solely on that individual. MUSIGA was however able to convince Midland Savings and loans to engage on this novelty path although with great reservations and dragging because of the limited investment in the music industry
But we have not stopped knocking on doors whiles creatively strategizing on others means of impacting members in a more direct way.
In addition to growing what we have already done, in the 2nd Term we will focus on :-
-Strengthening the regional branches
-Ghana Music to the World
-Supporting our unsung members or underground musicians as popularly called.
I crave your indulgence, support and endorsement at our upcoming congress.
Campaign/vote massively to re- elect Obour as President of Musiga so we can continue the AJUMAPA mission in a Reloaded form.
Thank you.
Signed
President Obour
