The President of the Ghana Actors Guild GAG, Mr. Nii Odoi Mensah, has revealed to GhanaCelebrities.Com that “majority of the guild’s members don’t pay dues.”
Mr. Odoi made this revelation to GhanaCelebrities.Com when we approached his office and asked for his reactions on why the guild charges money from its members before giving them an introductory letter for official assignments – travelling, seeking sponsorship, accreditations, etc.
“Yes we charge them. If we don’t charge them, where would we get money to run the guild? Majority of the guild’s members don’t pay their dues. Both in head office (Accra) and in Kumasi. They don’t pay. I once had to go to Kumasi to admonish them – the guild’s members to be paying their dues. Without money we can’t do much as far as actors’ welfare is concerned!
GhanaCelebrities.Com gathers that, the guild charges GHC 50 for every introductory letter the guild prepares for its members. We also gather that some A-List actors such as – Kalsoume Sinare, Jackie Appiah, Yvonne Nelson, and others, all stand accused. However, Mr. Odoi refused to react to that for confirmation or otherwise.
In the case of Yvonne Nelson, on 17th February, 2014, GhanaCelebrities.Com published an article in which Yvonne Nelson alleged that “when my issue (banned from acting or being used by filmmakers for 1 year in 2010) came up, the actors’ guild did nothing for me. They only came, sat, had some meetings and that was all. They did nothing for me. I kept quite but have to come out finally.”
GhanaCelebrities.Com asked Mr. Odoi if Yvonne is a member of the guild and also attends the guild’s meetings and he said “she is a member but, she does not attend meetings. In fact she has never attended any of our general meetings. If she has, I dare her to come and challenge me.”
We pray our A-List actors will use their star-power to help lift Ghana Actors Guild up, instead of lambasting the executives in the media or not doing anything for them. As Mahatma Ghandi once said “ask not what your nation can do for you but what you can do for your nation.’ Until then…MOTWUM!!
Editor-Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri’s Comment;
How is a person a member of a guild or any association if the person does not pay his/her dues and does not attend meetings? Do people just become members of the guild by virtue of being actors or by performing their compulsory duties as members of the association?
It looks like every actor is a member of the guild but in fact, none is a true standing member—except those who discharge their compulsory duties which confer membership status on them.
Letters for visas and others should not be granted to persons who are not members of the guild—and I mean those who do not attend meetings, pay dues or honour their compulsory membership duties.