The Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Akwasi Awuah Ababio, has waded into the controversy ensuing from comments by American film icon Spike Lee.
In an Asaase Radio interview, Spike Lee said no one from the Ghana film industry or film school reached out to him while he was here on a three-day visit.
He expressed disappointment and disclosed that while he was acquainted with the film industry of Nigeria, he did not know Ghana had a thriving movie scene.
In a response, via an official statement, the National Film Authority (NFA) has categorically said it reached out to Spike Lee’s team one evening but Chief Executive Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante was informed the multiple award-winning actor and filmmaker was busy. Ms Asante left a message, according to the statement.
On Saturday, April 1, 2023, Kwame Dadzie spoke to the Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Akwasi Awuah Ababio, on Accra-based Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z programme.
Kwame asked if Mr Ababio knew Spike Lee was coming to Ghana.
“Yes,” he answered.
He added, however, that it was a very short notice by which the American officials also stipulated what they needed his team to do for them; receive Lee at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), and take him to a fitting accommodation.
“We did know Spike Lee was coming to Ghana shortly before he came. At a very short notice, the American officials decided to inform us that we should be getting ourselves ready and a clear mandate or direction they wanted from us was to make sure that he could get [an] appropriate hotel to go to and to be taken from the airport to the hotel, to be welcomed at the airport, and we did precisely that,” he said.
“Thereafter,” Mr Ababio went on, “The American officials approached the [Diaspora Affairs] office and [indicated] that Spike was going to be [interested in] – that was not directly from Spike Lee but the officials getting us to know that they wanted to talk to some government officials. We faciliated that, exactly as they wanted it.”
He explained that he put the officials with Spike Lee in contact with the Director of the Creative Arts Agency (CAA), Gyankroma Akufo-Addo, and mentioned two other relevant offices to them.
“There, directly in my office, right after they asked for it, they were able to speak to the Director of Creative Arts, for one, and then other[s] – [we went] on to mention that the Ministry of Tourism [Arts & Culture] was going to be an interest to them, the Ghana Toursim Authority (GTA), etc. So we did bring the issue up and told them exactly what they should do,” he said.
Having done all that, Mr Ababio said: “It was left in the hands of the American officials to then take on the execution.”
He was asked if Lee met the Creative Arts Agency (CAA) at the Ministry of Toursim, Arts & Culture (MoTAC).
“Well, we wouldn’t know whether they met in person but we did ask them to see or talk to the Creative Arts and he did speak to the Creative Arts [and] whatever happened, whatever took place, that is not anything that we [Diaspora Office] were aware of but whatever [they; Spike Lee’s team] asked for that is what we passed on to them,” he answered.
He stressed that: “The Americans were very much in charge of the programme and they were the ones who were executing it.”
Akwasi Awuah Ababio confirmed that Spike Lee was in Ghana because of the US Vice President’s visit.
“Spike Lee and the wife came as part of the entourage of the Vice President [Kamala Harris] so before they came in, we were clearly in the knowledge that the Vice President was interested in coming with some personalities. As to who was on that list, we knew very little until they came,” he said.
He also categorically stated that financing for the trip was not handled by the government of Ghana.
“The Americans were in charge of their own accommodation and everything,” he said.
Source: classfmonline.com
