Ghanaian hiplife musician and songwriter, Martin King Arthur, popularly known as Kofi Kinaata, has suggested that creative industry players, who show interest in being politicians, should be supported to get into parliament
The ‘Susuka’ hitmaker made this assertion during an interview, where he emphasized that it would have been a great advantage for the creative industry, since just a few industry players are involved in political decision making. He further explained that because there are a few industry players in parliament, the plights and demands of the creative industry players are not being heard.
“If we want to be heard and our demands met, then we need to push our people into Parliament, so they can speak for us. Because, we do not have our representatives there, no one speaks for us”.
Kofi Kinaata
Citing examples of some creative industry players who have ventured into politics, Kofi Kinaata quizzed what would happen if they had obtained their seats in Parliament. He therefore asserted that if they were in Parliament, they would be quick to look out for the wellbeing of the creative industry.
“Can you imagine what would have happened if John Dumelo, Ebi Bright, Obour, and the other creatives all made it to Parliament? Some of the things the creative industry needs would have been provided because they would highlight our issues”.
Kofi Kinaata
He iterated that the reason why issues concerning the creative industry were trivialized is because the creative industry players did not have anyone in the decision making body to effectively speak for them.
“For instance, John Dumelo stood a better chance of explaining to Parliament the need to put in money to help the movie industry bounce back if he was there. Obour, on the other hand, could have spoken on behalf of the musicians, but without them in Parliament, who cares about our issues?”
Kofi Kinaata also emphasized that there was the need for pragmatic steps to be taken to get creative industry players into Parliament by campaigning for those who are bold to declare their intentions to contest. He also lamented that he wasn’t happy about how some industry players, who instead of throwing their weight behind their colleagues during the 2020 elections, went about campaigning for some persons who are not industry players.
“I was not happy when I saw celebrities campaigning for other candidates instead of using their popularity to campaign for their own.”
When asked if he would like to go into politics or contest to be a Member of Parliament, Kofi Kinaata said he didn’t think he was ready to involve himself in politics; however, he noted that he will definitely support any creative industry player who is ready to take up any political office.
“I don’t think I am ready for politics now, maybe, in some years to come but, not now. However, I support 100 percent, any showbiz person who is interested in politics.”
That aside, Kofi Kinaata, who just dropped his latest single ‘Something Nice’ featuring Nigerian artiste, Patoranking, said he would be doing more international collaborations.
“After making the name in Ghana, I need to step out of my comfort zone, hence the decision to do more collaborations. I have a number of musicians I intend collaborating with and it is going to be fire.”
