Renowned Ghanaian media personality, Kofi Okyere Darko, widely known as KOD, has expressed disappointment at the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku-Mantey as well as the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, over the current state of affairs within Ghana’s creative industry.

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KOD made it known that he had faith in the President and the minister to be able to change the creative sector for the better due to their past involvement in the industry. But unfortunately both have not lived to expectation.He further opined that  Okraku-Mantey seems to have forgotten his roots, as he expected more from the minister to help grow the creative space.

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Expressing his sentiments during a candid interview with Andy Dosty on Hitz FM, the media personality said, “I had very high hopes for what Nana was going to do for the creative space because right from the 70s, Nana Akufo-Addo has been connected to the music industry in diverse ways. He used to organize shows in the UK when he was in school. He was friends with people like Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He’s had a very great relationship with musicians over the years. Look at his team members…Many of them have creative backgrounds. So you’d expect that, this is the time for us to shine, but it didn’t happen.”

He further added that, “Maybe there was no clear-cut plan for what to do with the creative space. When our brother Mark Okraku-Mantey was appointed, many people said, ‘Oh, this is one of us’, but up until now, I have not seen much from him as a person. In actual fact, you can’t even access him, you want him to do something for you, and you have to deal with him like any other person, not like one of us who has been elevated. He has forgotten why he was elevated. We thought someone like him would be a mouthpiece for us. But I am disappointed in what the government has done. They could have done more for us.”