Ambolley fights back
Nana Gyedu Blay Ambolley, whose call for probe of certain key members in the Musicians' Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) was described as a “fruitless call” by the union's executive arm, has hit back, accusing the MUSIGA of double standards and even labeling him a “liar”.
According to Ambolley, MUSIGA president, Alhaji Sidiku Buari was trying to prevent a justice system that he had previously called for when he (Sidiku Buari) was not president of MUSIGA.
He said: “During Faisal Helwani and Joe Mensah's regimes, Sidiku Buari has been calling for accountability and probity. So why are they now describing my call for probe as fruitless and loud noise when he too is in power?”
“When he and his executive took over from the then interim executive, he did not render any accounts and the same applies to the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA), which he chaired,” he added.
Ambolley who made these submissions in reaction to a story in Friday's edition of the Daily Guide who expressed doubts about Sidiku Buari and his executive's readiness for any probe, asked rhetorically; “If they are prepared for probe, why have they put up the story describing my call as fruitless?”
Ambolley stated that music is his life and that is what he does for livelihood, thus he would not sit on the fence and later suffer as some of his top colleagues, who died out of abject poverty.
He said his bid to contest the election was not for anything but to help put the union in a better shape.
“I am not even keen on becoming a president. For the presidency, it has always been for those who have retired from music. With me, I want to come in to structure the union and give the baton to someone else who is retired.”
On claims that he was not a good standing member of the union because he had not been paying his dues and was therefore not eligible to contest the presidency, Ambolley said article 14 of the union's constitution allowed him to contest.
Nana Ambolley was vice president of the union in 1979, when Koo Nimo was then the president.
He told Beatwaves that even though those days he did not usually stay in Ghana, anytime he came home he paid dues to help run the union, although he was not obliged to pay.
On allegations that he just acquired his membership card, Ambolley stressed he only renewed his card for this year, and showed both his new and old membership cards to Daily Guide as proof.