Ten months after Abla Dzifa Gomashie assumed office as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist and entertainment critic Kwaku Osei Korankye Asiedu, popularly known as KOKA, has called for her dismissal.
In an interview with GhanaWeb, KOKA said the minister has failed to make any meaningful impact in the creative sector since assuming office.
According to him, the minister appears to focus her attention mainly on her home region, the Volta Region, while ignoring cultural and tourism activities taking place in other parts of the country.
Citing examples, KOKA questioned why the minister was absent from major cultural-related occasions such as the Dote Yie of the Asantehemaa, Daddy Lumba’s one-week observation at the Independence Square, and the 40-day observation of Apostle Kwadwo Safo Kantanka.
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He said these were events that could have promoted “funeral tourism” and created value for the creative economy, yet the minister showed no interest.
He added that while the Ministry of Tourism appears inactive under her leadership, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is making more visible progress.
He praised the current GTA management, led by Maame Efua Houadjeto and Abeiku Santana, for their efforts to push tourism and creative initiatives.
“The Minister of Tourism, Dzifa Gomashie, has to go, and I said it from day one. She is a failure from the start. We have 16 regions; tell me what you see going on. Anything you see is in the Volta Region. Did you see her at the Asantehemaa’s funeral? Was she at Lumba’s one-week observation? Kantanka’s 40-day observation, did you see her there?
“It’s a creative space, and all these were funeral tourism that were creating value. You’re the sitting minister, so you can have time for certain things, and things that are inclined that the Ashanti stuff you don’t do, it’s wrong. The GTA is more active than the minister,” KOKA said.
Watch NPP’s KOKA speaks on NDC government’s performance in 10 months
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