Former President and presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has pledged to establish a support fund dedicated to aging artists in the creative sector if elected in the upcoming December 2024 elections.
This promise was made during a policy dialogue at the AH Hotel in Accra, which brought together key players from the creative arts industry on Friday, 7 June 2024.
Mahama expressed his long-standing concern for the well-being of creative professionals and announced plans to implement a more structured assistance scheme.
“We will formalize the Aging Artists Fund. This one is my personal, greedy, and selfish [promise] because it will take the burden off me for the current ones that I am taking care of. I think that the state should take part of that burden,” he said.
“So, we will create a fund for aging artists and we will identify the indigent ones who are in need so that we can get them money to buy their medicines and be able to feed themselves. So, we will set up the aging artists fund and we will formalize it,” he noted.
He also promised to support the creative arts sector to ensure it provides job opportunities for Ghanaian youth.
“The creative arts is a very important industry and has the potential to create millions of jobs. All our young people who are sitting at home, many of them are talented but there are no opportunities for them to show their talents. So, if we are able to put the creative industry on a sound footing, it will create opportunities for many of our young people,” he added.
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