The Executive Director of EMY Africa, which organizes the EMY Awards, Kojo Soboh, has proposed the creation of a regulatory agency to assess the legitimacy of award programs.
He said on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z that the proliferation of award programs in Ghana is out of control.
“I believe that we have some really great award programs, but we also have folks that come here and simply do whatever and get away with it because they believe it to be a money-making business.
Therefore, in my opinion, there should be a body that verifies award schemes and does not simply grant anyone a license or a certificate to conduct awards. Why are you giving awards? What position are you in to say that this individual is the finest at something? The influx of awards is simply getting too excessive, so there should be some restriction, he added in the interview.
However, he pointed out that there are some excellent award programs, including the EMY Awards, the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, the 3Music Awards, and the Glitz Awards.
“These are awards that we can say they are doing well, it is very well represented and people respect. But then I think that there should be some regulation so that that space can be checked,” he noted
Many people in Ghana are very concerned about the proliferation of awards schemes because some award organizers appear to use their programs to take advantage of nominees and their supporters.
Many of the awards that are proliferating, in the opinion of some, are not helping the arts industry and should be eliminated.
Every Saturday, Kwame Dadzie hosts Showbiz A-Z on Joy 99.7 FM.
