Even before nomination forms are made available for the upcoming congress of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), one of the persons who had expressed interest in contesting for the Union's presidency, Appietus, has disclosed there is a possibility he may step down and back the campaign of the incumbent president, Obour, who is currently seeking a second term in office.
Appietus, an award-winning music producer and musician, officially known as Appiah Dankwah, over the weekend, said though he wants to become MUSIGA president, he will bury his ambition if the incumbent president, Obour, convinces him that his second term in office will be different from his first term.
When Appietus was asked on Peace Fm's Entertainment Review last Saturday whether he would not step down and back Obour at the eleventh hour, he said he was genuinely interested in the presidency because Obour had been 'slow' in fulfilling some of his campaign promises.
However, Appietus said if Obour could convince him, things would be different; that he would rescind his decision and back the incumbent president for a second term.
Asked to mention some of the campaign promises Obour had been slow in delivering on, Appietus referred to a promise to establish a recording studio for MUSIGA.
Interestingly, Appietus has shied away from the weightier issues of lack of accountability and transparency raised against Obour by his critics.
Highlife and jazz legend Gyedu Blay Ambolley, for instance, in his campaign to take over from Obour as MUSIGA president, has insisted that the GH¢2 million which was allocated by government in 2013 for the Creative Arts sector but ended up solely in the accounts of MUSIGA has not been properly accounted for.
Obour and his team have insisted they spent the GH¢2 million from government on funding research works into the music industry and the Ghana Music Week Celebrations.
The specifics on how the money was spent and whether it was solely for MUSIGA or the Creative Arts sector as a whole, however, continues to be unknown.
Meanwhile, MUSIGA will officially open nominations this morning and has made known the qualifications for interested persons who wish to vie for positions.
A release issued by the Union said the basic qualifications as stipulated in Article 10 of the Union's constitution are that the applicant must be of sound mind, must have no criminal record, must be a paid-up member, must be literate in English and the person must be a fully paid-up member for at least six months before the opening of nominations.
It also said 'in addition to the above, persons interested in contesting for the Presidency must have held an executive position of the Union successfully for at least one term. This means the person should have either been a national or regional executive member to be eligible.
In accordance with article 11 of the Union's constitution, an independent election committee shall be appointed by the National Executive Council (NEC) which shall be made up of five non office holding musicians. The election committee is automatically dissolved once the election is over,' it added.
The release said filing of applications for the elections runs from today, Monday, July 27 to Friday, August 28, after which the candidates will undergo vetting prior to the release of the final list of contestants before congress on October 29 in the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua.
In all, 150 delegates from across the country will take part in the congress and vote.
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