26/02/2025
HON. HABIB IDDRISU IS UNEDUCATED ABOUT THE MOVIE INDUSTRY
It has come to the notice of the Film Directors Guild of Ghana (FDGG) that on Tuesday 25th of February, 2025, the First Deputy Minority Whip of Ghana’s Parliament, Hon. Habib Iddrisu, during the vetting of the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture designate, Hon. John Dumelo, suggested that the movie industry is not a serious choice of profession.
“When you go to the ministry, know that you are not in your movie industry. Try to be as serious as you can.” Hon. Habib Iddrisu advised Hon. John Dumelo.
This is rather an unfortunate comment, statement or advice from Hon. Habib Iddrisu to the fraternity of the Ghana movie industry and, for that matter, to the entire film industry across the globe. We do not take this reckless statement or comment very lightly. By this reckless statement, we can on authority acknowledge that Hon. Habib Iddrisu is very much uneducated when it comes to the film industry ecosystem in Ghana and that of the world.
Globally, the culture and creative industry generate $2.25 trillion annually, contributing 3% to the global GDP, and employ 30 million people (UNESCO, 2021). The movie industry drives socioeconomic progress, innovation, culture diplomacy, and social cohesion, underscoring its importance in global development. In Ghana, and in Africa as a whole, the culture and creative industries are keys in job creation, tourism, and foreign exchange earnings. The movie productions and the cinema chain for movie distribution are playing a key role in revenue generation for the global economy. We hereby advise the Honourable First Deputy Minority Whip to google and read more about the contribution of the film or movie industry to the GDP of the global economy, and come back and tell us if the movie industry is not a serious industry, and for that matter, if the professions in the movie industry are not as serious as his political career.
*We don’t want to believe that the film or movie industry in Ghana is not getting the developmental attention and investment that it deserves from the government of Ghana because of uneducated politicians like him in the house of the Parliament of Ghana.* We, the stakeholders of the Ghana movie industry, are so disappointed in him, in his reckless statement and in any politician who agrees with.
In the light of the above, we, therefore, demand a retraction of this reckless statement and an unqualified apology from the Honourable Deputy Minority Whip of Ghana’s Parliament, Hon. Habib Iddrisu, for his disrespectful and reckless statement to Hon. John Dumelo and the entire movie industry in Ghana.
RICHARD YAW BOATENG
(National President)
FRANCIS AYAGA
(Director of Communications)
Film Directors Guild of Ghana
(FDGG)
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