Okyeame Kwame fires Okraku Mantey

Reports reaching BEATWAVES indicate that one of Ghana’s reigning hiplife artistes, Okyeame Kwame, has declared that he was highly disappointed when he got wind that Mark Okraku Mantey, a music producer had deliberately misrepresented an explanation he gave as to why MUSIGA’s treasurer, Oheneba Kissi, was absent and the union’s general secretary was acting in his stead.

Mark Okraku Mantey, last week, declared on radio that Okyeame Kwame had told him in an interview that during the Ghana Music Week (GMW) celebrations, Oheneba Kisi was out of town because of medical reasons; therefore he agreed that the general secretary of the union should be made the signatory to all of the accounts in his absence.

Mark therefore concluded that from what he heard from Okyeame Kwame, Oheneba Kisi did not know anything about MUSIGA’s accounts and was not a signatory to those accounts even though he was the treasurer of the union.

Mark Okraku Mantey, who is neither a musician nor member of MUSIGA, a couple of weeks ago questioned the account statement of the union on the Ghana Music Week festival held recently, and accused MUSICGA and its president, Obour, of not being transparent to its members.

He has also levelled allegations of mismanagement of funds meant for the organization of the Ghana Music Week but has since failed to provide evidence to support his allegations.

Mark’s actions and inactions have made a number of stakeholders to believe he is among a ‘mafia’ group which is strongly fighting the current MUSIGA administration and finding faults with all of its programmes and activities.

MUSIGA has since issued a response to deny any wrongdoing and its President, Obour, told journalists in Accra that his hands were clean.

Obour declared that anyone who had evidence that some money had been wrongly used should step forward with that evidence rather than go on radio to make allegations which lacked basis and evidence.

Okyeame Kwame who is also the spokesperson for the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) disclosed in an interview that, “What I told Mark on that day is nothing different from what my brother Rex Omar told him but I must say, I was very happy about how Rex handled the situation.

“I am disappointed in Mark for misquoting me on radio. What I said was Oheneba Kisi was out of town for medical reasons and he therefore agreed that the union’s general secretary should be made the signatory to all of MUSIGA accounts in his absence. I never said Oheneba Kisi does not know MUSIGA accounts and was not a signatory to those accounts”.