‘Creative Arts Fund’ Can Be Operational Very Soon … Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey
The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey has stated that indeed the much anticipated ‘Creative Arts Fund’ for the Ghana creative industry, could be operational sooner than expected. In response to a question asked him at a discussion on the 2024 manifesto by the New Patriotic Party (N.P.P), he explained that merging the 3 funds provided by law under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, could lead to an amendment of the current ‘Tourism Fund’ which is already fully operational, rather than the enactment of a new one. And, this would be much easier and faster to be made law by parliament; thereby, allowing other stakeholders in the Ghanaian creative space to begin receiving financial support as soon as possible. He made this statement a few days ago at the ‘Executive Theatre’ on the premises of Tv3 in Accra.
Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey advised that the need for a strategic merger of the 3 funds under the Ministry for Tourism, Arts and Culture, would not just quicken the process of establishing the ‘Creative Arts Fund’, but also reduce the imminent financial overload on stakeholders of the tourism and creative arts industry. “The ‘Creative Arts Fund’ has its roots from the law… Tourism has a fund … the National Film Authority, that law was passed in 2016 by the N.D.C, and that law also gives room for a fund (for the N.F.A). And then, the Creative Arts Agency also has a fund. You know with these funds, some will come from Government and some from industry people; some how, it’s a degree of taxation. So, one ministry has 3 different units and each of them are taking some form of tax from the industry stakeholders. So, what we are trying to do is, how do we merge these 3 funds to sit in one ministry? The hoteliers are complaining … about 7 forms of collections. So, can you imagine what will happen if we keep asking industry (stakeholders) to pay monies into 3 different units?”, he explained.
Also, the Deputy Minister advised that, the merger would be the a practical way of getting the ‘Creative Arts Fund’ operational in the shortest possible time. He stated that the suggestion for the merger came from the Minster of Tourism, Arts and Culture Hon. Andrew Egyapa Mercer. “… Per the Creative Agency’s level, they want this thing (Legal Instrument for the Creative Arts Bill) to be enacted. And, per Hon. Andrew Egyapa’s view (Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture), he asks, why don’t we get all these 3 units to merge so we can go back to parliament and make amends? This is what we are considering”, he said.
Furthermore, Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey reminded stakeholders and the media about the nature of governance which he described as a collective authority and not an individualistic entity. He said this in response to the delay in enacting the legal instrument for the creative arts bill by parliament. “The reason I am giving conditional statements is because, you don’t have direct control over parliament and what they decide. Governance is not about saying things verbatim because there are checks and balances. When you make a move, somebody has to ‘concretize’ it before it can become whatever you want it to be … So, I can’t give you timelines”, he explained.
According to the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the establishment of the ‘Creative Arts Fund’ will be a boost for the creative industry as it will help provide financial support to stakeholders in the creative space as part of government’s commitment to ensuring the sector’s sustainability and growth.
By Jerry Wonder Sampson
