Reactions trail Ghana’s culture minister exit

Afeku, who became head of the Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture Ministry in 2017, was removed shortly after President Nana Akufo-Addo gave his state of the nation address.

Akufo-Addo spoke about the opportunities in the culture space, but parts of his speech came across, to at least one commentator, as evidence of a miscommunication between Afeku's ministry and the central government. A few days later, Afeku was removed from her position and made minister of state at the office of the president, a position that has been called a demotion.

Some reports following her exit mention her preference for the tourism portfolio over the creative arts and pledging $4.5m for three editions of the All Africa Music Awards, a move for which she received criticism. Her former position is now occupied by Barbara Oteng Gyasi.

Creative Arts Council head Mark Okraku Mantey said his working relationship with Afeku was good but he was now interested in helping Gyasi, whom he says he doesn’t know personally.

Highlife artist Ben Brako told an interviewer that the change would not substantially alter the creative industry. “Even if you get a good person in that position, there are still government policies about the creative arts that have been overlooked,” he said. “We have serious issues that show the kind of governance that we have.”

For William Asiedu, head of the Arts and Tourism Writers Association of Ghana, Afeku was removed partly because she was often talking to members of the media.

“Although she was doing well, she was receiving a lot of bashing because people thought that she was talking too much,” he said. “She was being too much of a PR person. Because as a minister you have a pro who was literally dead. People didn’t even know that he existed.”

Afeku has herself spoken about Akufo-Addo’s decision to remove her from her former position. In an interview after her exit from her former position was made public, a smiling Afeku said it was important that the ministry move on even as she has been replaced and that it was Akufo-Addo's prerogative to make such decisions.

“I have not resigned,” she said, adding that she is “committed to serving my people as a member of Parliament and minister of state in whatever capacity the president deems fit for me”.