Akunu Dake, the Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Development, has blamed the woes of Ghana’s culture and creative industries on the lack of political will on the part of successive government to grow the sector. 

Dake, who spoke on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z on Saturday, April 15, 2023 said things are rather being done on the peripherals instead of paying critical attention to arts and culture.

According to him, people in the arts are doing so well on a daily basis and that the right systems and structures would make the industry a better one.

“What this country needs and from my own experience in dealing with people in governance is that there is no political will, and I say it bluntly. We’re doing cosmetic things, these kind of adorning things, we are dealing with issues from the peripheral,” he told the host Kwame Dadzie. 

“Culture and the arts have not been mainstreamed. The political will is just not there,” he reiterated. 

Akunu Dake, however, said giving up is not a better option. He urged stakeholders in the value chain of the sector to continue to mount pressure of the powers that be as the media is doing. 

Talking about Ghana’s Cultural Policy which received assent in 2004, he doubted if the country was able to implement just 5% of it.

“It’s useful to move forward but I also think that it is not all the time that we need to re-invent the wheel. We didn’t implement even 5% of the Cultural Policy. How many people in policy and governance saw that cultural policy?” he asked. 

The Cultural Policy Document is dedicated to the realisation of the vision of the people of Ghana to respect, preserve, harness and use their cultural heritage and resources to develop a united, vibrant and prosperous national community with a distinctive African identity and personality and a collective confidence and pride of place among the comity of nations.

Akunu Dake is a Development Consultant with expertise in Project & Events Management and Culture & Tourism Development.

He has immense experience in policy, management, programme, dialogue, and business issues in the domain. 

A long standing Cultural Icon and Ambassador for Ghana and Africa, he Directed and produced the first and subsequent international cultural festivals titled PANAFEST in Ghana.