Baba Sadiq raises concerns over security during events in December

Entertainment pundit, entrepreneur and politician, Baba Sadiq Mohammed has cited security as a major concern for event organizers in Ghana during shows, concerts and programmes.

In an interview, Baba Sadiq said December is a period to boost Ghana’s tourism. According to him, It is a ‘cash cow’ period for event organizers yet the Ghana Tourism Authority has not created the conducive and secured environment for such events.

He mentioned the Afro Nation Music Festival as one of the events that battled with security for artistes and audience during the maiden show in Ghana.

“During Afro Nation in 2022 at the Black Star Square, people were attacked, cars were broken into, phones were snatched. Even access to the place was a problem and there was no fencing of the area to create a secured environment,” Sadiq lamented.

“But security is not only a problem in Ghana, but also in Nigeria, where they chose as the venue for this year’s Afro Nation. Afro Nation has been postponed indefinitely because the venue, TBS in Lagos is problematic and organizers can’t assure anyone’s security there” he added.

he added that “Issues of security sometimes scare investors away from investing into event organizing. A lot of these investors think they might not recoup their monies pumped into the show after investing.

The showbiz critic also hinted that during December, the Ghana Revenue Authority experiences a spike in revenue due to increase in number of tourists who visit the country.

He however bemoaned the existence of bad roads as one of the hindrances to event organizers’ quest to market the country.

“Most tourists would want to visit other sites when in Ghana, but the bad roads are a turn off for most of them. Sometimes they decide to turn back, which deprives Ghana of our 1% tourist levy,” he added.

Baba Sadiq further called on government and the Ministry of Tourism to support event organizers in Ghana with funding.