Artist manager and CEO of Excel Media Group, Kwesi Ernest believes Reggae Dancehall sensation Shatta Wale must be celebrated by the Ministry of Tourism following his collaboration with international RnB act Beyoncé.
According to Kwesi, the Ministry must attach the same importance to it as was done for America’s George Floyd who died after a police officer pinned his neck down with his knee.
Speaking on Daybreak Hitz, the artist manager said he was “waiting to see whether the Minister for Tourism will hold a durbar on this collaboration or a breakfast meeting for us industry players to come together and celebrate because you remember when that black man died in America there was a funeral.”
“So how could we celebrate the death and when there is something bigger like this the Ministry cannot do anything to celebrate it?”
He urged creative industry players to herald the collaboration and celebrate Shatta Wale as he believes it is by far the greatest achievement in the creative arts calendar.
He also tasked the Ministry to use the collaboration as a clapper board to strengthen the Ghanaian industry and make it available for future collaborations.
Kwesi Ernest further stated that the collaboration could be seen as an achievement for the current Minister of Tourism as it happened during her tenure of office.
“If I was a Minister, this is a political achievement for me because it happened during my tenure of office and so, therefore, I will use it as an opportunity to champion the industry and say something of this sort happened in my tenure,” he stated.
Referring to the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s congratulatory tweet to Shatta Wale, Kwesi Ernest tasked the Ministry to do everything in its power to honour the collaboration.
“I am once again urging the Ministry to celebrate the collaboration just as it did for George Floyd who was not killed here; we celebrated this man in style and decorations which were intact, you could see all the funeral colours, a well-orchestrated event.
“Today we have such an important event of this nature in the calendar of Ghana and I haven’t seen the Ministry even with one canopy discussing this matter,” he stated.
Source: myjoyonline.com
