The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) has honoured Alhaji Sidiku Buari, former President of the Union, for his meritorious contribution to the development of music in Ghana and Africa.
The awards ceremony took place at the National Theatre in Accra last week as part of activities marking GMW Festival, which attracted a large number of the stakeholders in the creative arts industry in Ghana.
MUSIGA recognised Alhaji Buari with the President’s Honour Award for the initiative during his term of office which provided opportunities for the union members to get maximum benefits from FIM with regard to capacity building.
Through Alhaji Buari’s encouragement, musicians in Ghana today are enjoying duty-free on some imported musical instruments.
He could also be credited for the re-emergence of live band music in many African countries.
For his part, Alhaji Buari thanked members of the union for the honour done him, saying, ‘I will never forget the occasion.’
Some of the musicians who were spotted shaking hands with the former MUSIGA President, expressed their happiness for the honour done him and commended him for his contribution towards the progress of the music industry in Ghana.
The former President of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) deserved the award in recognition of his contribution towards the building of a vibrant music industry in Ghana.
Based on his achievements in the Ghanaian music industry, the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) also honoured him for his meritorious contribution to the development of music in Africa at a ceremony held in South Africa.
In an interview with BEATWAVES, Sidiku Buari appealed to the record companies to invest hugely in Ghanaian musicians to make them rub shoulders with their other international colleagues.
He noted that difficulty in enforcing laws against piracy of music in Ghana was a serious canker, adding that ‘pirated versions of creative works covered at least 60 percent of the market and in West Africa; the figure could be as high as 90 percent.’
Sidiku Buari declared that lack of enforcement of copyright laws had empowered the pirates, who were better organised and more successful than the victims and perhaps acted in concert with the public enforcement agencies.
Other winners included; Okyeame Kwame, Yeboah for Instrumentalist Honour, Professor J. H. Nketia for Music Tutor Honour, Abraham Ohene Gyan with Music Industry Development Honour and Shasha Marley for Music Industry Development Honour for Reggae/Dancehall.
The rest were Pat Thomas for Highlife Honour, Zapp Mallet for Music Promoter Honour, Yaw Sarpong and the Asomafo for Gospel Music Honour, Sonnie Badu for International Act Honour, King Shabo Band for Music Band Honour, Wulomei for Traditional Music Honour.
By George Clifford Owusu
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