Ghanaian artiste manager and entertainment critic, Bullgod, has strongly criticized the Creative Arts ministry’s funeral tourism initiative.
In an interview on TV3, Bullgod expressed his disapproval of the Tourism and Creative Arts minister, Dr. Mohammed Awal’s efforts to use funerals as a means to boost the economy. He went so far as to label the minister’s intentions as “trash.” This criticism highlights the ongoing debate and diverse opinions within the creative arts and entertainment industry regarding the government’s approach to leveraging cultural events like funerals for economic development.
“Even the tourism bit. What are they doing? Recently, we just saw the minister. What’s the man’s name? Mohammed. Talking trash. Do you know the purpose of funerals? Do you know why we do a three-day funeral? Then this minister says we should go and watch what? Kakum National Park?
“It is trash. It is senseless. We should be able to tell them all these things. The minister that spoke. We pay his transport. We pay his fuel, wherever he sleeps, we pay that, even the clothes on his back. That is not the time to go for an excursion. It’s a very dumb idea,” he fumed.
Bullgod also yelled at the National Commission on Culture’s Director of Creative Arts, Socrates Safo, for uncritically endorsing the notion.
“You know, I don’t understand what Socrates is still doing for the party. You know, there are times in life that you see stuff and you need to say it as it is. You don’t become a slave for something that you know isn’t the truth,” he averred.
A popular artiste manager has joined the list of celebrities who oppose the idea.
It has been opposed by Kennedy Agyapong, Afia Schwarzenegger, DKB, Victoria Lebene, and others.
Background
Earlier in an interview with UTV, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said Ghanaians love funerals, and as such, it is a space for providing an opportunity for patrons to discover the various attractions scattered across the 16 regions of Ghana.
“Ghanaians love funerals and it is fertile ground for tourism. When there are funerals, people gather at places. What we want to do with the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA, is that whenever there are funerals, we’ll also find tourist attractions in those areas where the funerals occur so that when they finish, [we can] bus those who attend the funerals to key tourist sites. We’re going to serve a lot of Ghanaian dishes at the funerals, Ghanaian drinks, sobolo [hibiscus tea] and co,” he said during an interview with UTV.
His statements have since caught the attention of countless netizens and have triggered discussions on social media.