Ghana: GHAMRO reveals 12 hopefuls for upcoming board elections

They include incumbent chairperson Rex Omar, whose four-year tenure will end this year, Kwesi Ernest Annin, Elizabeth Tagoe, Benjamin Mensah, Kwame Adinkra, Yaw Agyeman Badu and Francis Boahene. Other candidates who submitted forms comprise Oheneba Kissi, Kwabena Kwakye Kabobo, Ruth Benny Wood, John Mensah Sarpong and Diana Hopeson.

The recent GHAMRO constitution allows a maximum of seven members to be elected onto the board. The chairperson must be a composer and the vice-chairperson should be either a performer or publisher. The new board will then vote for a new chairperson in line with the body’s code.

GHAMRO election committee secretary Gloria Dzifa Ashinyo told Music In Africa that the arrangements have been concluded for the election, adding that the process will be supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana with the support of the GHAMRO's electoral committee.

Ashinyo also said that the vetting of the nominees, which was initially slated for 15 to 19 February, will now be conducted on 26 February and 4 March in Accra and Kumasi, respectively. Additionally, the elections have been rescheduled and will now take place on 18 March, if approved by the EC.

According to the Constitution, the election committee, which was elected in October, is given 90 days, from the time it assumes office, to conduct elections for the new board. GHAMRO says it is on course to deliver its mandate despite the changes in the schedule.

GHAMRO was established under Section 49 of the Copyright Law of 2005 and is regulated by the Ministry of Justice. The body is mandated with the collection and distribution of royalties on behalf of authors, composers and other rightsholders.