How Important Is It for a Ghanaian Creative to Explore the Globe? ‘Travel Protocol Service (TPS)’ Policy 2025 for the Creative Industry in Ghana.
They say you are a master in your own house until you step outside. This statement emphasizes the need for people seeking ‘to do’ more or ‘to earn more’ respect, recognition or even more money, to step out of their comfort zones and break new boundaries. This is the core motivation of one of the policies for creatives from Ghana proposed by the Vice – President of Ghana Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia called the Travel Protocol Service (TPS).
Simply put, the T.P.S policy will allow Ghanaian creatives such as Artistes, Musical and Theatrical Performers, Visual Artists, as well as other creatives, to honor international invitations and also initiate visits to such events or conferences, without the usual boring and in most cases, stressful bureaucratic processes that come with such applications.
T.P.S (Travel Protocol Service) means that soon, many Ghanaian talents will be able to sell their unique gifts, as well as Ghanaian culture and tradition, to the world without having to forge documents and create false stories simply to be able to mount international platforms. Soon, the creative Ghanaian mind will be seen, heard and felt across the globe. Gone will be the days of only very top and selected Ghanaian talents from having such international travelling privileges. Soon, it will be made possible for all creative minds with a vision and ‘a dream to be great’, not just at home, but also on the world stage.
A personal experience I had in 2002 as the organizer of a talent show called ‘Mr Split Personality’, makes me appreciate easy travelling protocols. I had to send the winner of the competition, to compete in Asia. This couldn’t be as the requirements by the Korean embassy were just too many for a young creative who was only employed by his talent and nothing else. Despite the intervention of his dad as a guarantor when the Korean Embassy requested for the young talent’s SSNIT number (social security), and also emails from the organizers of the event in Korea to the embassy, he was denied the visa. Further efforts proved futile and the young chap never got to stand on that international stage.
There are countless of these stories from beauty pageants to musical talents trying to sincerely make it to an international event to represent their nation. And, what is scary is that this rejection can cause a negative psychological impact to such a creative when refused the opportunity to travel on work basis, thereby, darkening the shine of a Ghanaian potential and simultaneously limiting the reach of creative Ghana to the world.
From my personal experience, I can say that though there are still other needs of the Ghanaian Creative Industry, the ‘Travel Protocol Service’ (T.P.S) policy will be a major ‘game changer’ in the Creative Industry in Ghana and therefore, should not be left in a book of ideas, but must be made a reality.
By Jerry Wonder
