Artiste manager and entertainment pundit, Lawrence Nana Asiamah Hanson, also called Bullgod, has suggested to the Electoral Commission to consider shifting the date for elections from December.
While speaking on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning show, he said the exercise affects creative events and investments throughout the festive period because the majority of the diaspora fears visiting due to potential violence.
Unlike in any other year, most event organizers put in effort to hold events after the elections but end up recording lower attendance, causing them to run at a loss.
“I think one of the things we need to consider is shifting the date for elections. There was a rumour somewhere last year that they were going to put it in November. So I think we can do November like the Americas or even do it before that. What stops us? It’s just a day. The reason being that it affects investment. There’s a lot of money that comes in during that time.”
Whether it would affect the transition process, the pundit said that amendments to the constitution could be made to guide the procedure and set a different date for the changeover to the new government.
He added that Ghana cannot continue to be stuck in old ways, emphasizing that the traditional way of doing things has changed and that politics needs to be adjusted to keep up with the changes.
“For me, the constant things in life have changed. We can’t be stuck in our ways unless they look at the revenue December brings to us and say it’s negligible because that timing is some way.”
As a result, Bullgod is calling on stakeholders and industry players to advocate for this, suggesting that the date be moved to either the middle of the year or November.
Edem Mensah-Tsortome, an entertainment pundit who was also contributing to the show, concurred with Bullgod, reiterating that some people who were in the country before the elections were contemplating ttravelling abroad due to the fear of conflicts and chaos.
This could have caused massive losses to the entertainment industry and event organizers, including musicians, because they could have seen a drastic decline in numbers.
“Even us who were here, it’s like we don’t know what will happen. We were uneasy in a way,” he added.
He pleaded that if there could be a way to amend the decision, the stakeholders in charge should rethink and consider the change.