Veteran musician, Rex Owusu Marfo aka Rex Omar has been elected as the new Chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO).
Music producer, Ahmed Banda, aka Bandex and gospel musician, Diana Hopeson, were also elected as 1st and 2nd Vice Chairman respectively.
According to the constitution of GHAMRO, the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Board shall serve for a term of four years and may seek re-election as Chairman and Vice-Chairmen for another term only.
In an interview with Prince Tsegah PRO of GHAMRO, he said the Chairman and his vices were elected by the new board. “The elections were hotly contested with Rex Omar beating his fellow contender, Nana Tuffuor by seven votes to six.”
Prince Tsegah said among the first activities which will be of priority to the new board is the collection and disbursement of outstanding royalties.
He added that the board was free to operate without restrictions since the court case initiated by Randy Nunoo was yet to be heard by the courts but added that plans were in place to resolve the impasse through alternative means.
“The newly appointed head of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku Mantey, has stepped in and is trying to find ways to resolve this issue amicably. He has held meetings with all parties involved in this matter and I am certain he will make his recommendations to the sector Minister soon,” he said.
He said the thirteen member board is participating in a workshop in order to adequately prepare to deal with the tasks before them. “ The workshop, being organised in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the International Federation of Phonographic Industries is to equip the elected Board members to execute their duties effectively.
“The Board training exercise will focus on governance principles, Collective Management Organisation (CMO) operations, the copyright law and regulations of Ghana, ethics and Board duties”, he said.
The orientation workshop under the theme, “Collective Management for Policy Makers” is led by Rob Hooijer, a representative of the (IFPI) among other resource persons, he added.
