Ghanaian musician Kirani Ayat is accusing the President Nana Akufo-Addo for utilizing the his work without authorization or credit to promote the nation to tourists, local media has reported. “I would like to state I and ONLY I (Kirani Ayat) owns the rights to the GUDA video. No agency has ANY rights or have been granted any rights to use my video for the visit Ghana Ad campaign,” Kirani said in a statement responding to the Ghana Tourism Authority.
Before filming his Guda music video, the musician Kirani Ayat claims he requested assistance from the government but was rejected.The movie, which was produced in northern Ghana, includes beautiful scenery and highlights the way of life there.
Kirani Ayat criticized the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday after he uploaded a promotional film, saying, “The President of Ghana has used my video ‘Guda’ in this ad to promote Ghana. I actively contacted the Ministry of Tourism between 2018 and 2019 to use this video to promote travel to the North, but I never received a response.
Now that it’s in an advertisement, still no one has responded. The tourism advertisement includes clips from the musician’s video, including ones where women dance and pose while perched on a huge tree. In order to save money for the expenditures of the film production, Kirani lamented working a 12-hour shift every day for three months as a security guard.
“I tried to contact her a few times without success. During that time, I suffered from depression” said Ayat.
The government has not yet responded to the copyright claims, and Ghanaians have urged the musician to sue the government for copyright infringement on social media.
With the ongoing ‘Year of Return’ project initiated in 2019, several international stars and members of African Diaspora have poured into Ghana, attracting profits into the tourism and investment sector. The government has hailed the project as a tremendous success.
