Poor organization blamed for poor NAFAC participation in Sunyani
A cross-section of residents in the Sunyani Municipality have attributed the low participation of the just-ended National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) held in Sunyani to poor organization.
They summed up the poor attendance as a result of “poor and limited publicity.”
Those were the comments by a section of the general public about the Festival when interviewed by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Thursday in Sunyani.
Mr. Kwaku Dzodzi, an exhibitor from the Western Region said, he was part of those who participated in a similar festival in Tamale four years ago, saying the Sunyani one was poorly organised, hence the low patronage of wares of exhibitors.
Mr. Dzodzi stressed that at the Tamale festival, his items were highly patronized, saying that was not the case of the Sunyani one, because “I can say without a lump in my throat that I have lost heavily because of lack of patronage of the goods I presented.”
Other exhibitors, including Samuel Akulugo from the Upper West Region, Kwasi Adongo and John Nti from Greater-Accra and Anass Mohammed from the Northern Region also complained of not achieving their goals concerning the sale of their products
Madam Akuah Adobea, a trader, said she and her colleagues in the old market at the Sunyani central business district, did not even hear about the programme until Thursday, incidentally the closing day of the six-day event.
Madam Adobea expressed surprise that none of the information centres surrounding the market could give prior information about the festival long before its commencement.
Mr. Kyeremeh Ofori, a resident, said while in a vehicle passing by the Jubilee Park towards the Magazine Area, he saw a gathering, saying out of curiosity he alighted to enquire, only to be told by a friend that the whole nation had converged at the Jubilee Park for the 2014 NAFAC programme.
Mr. Ofori was not enthused with items displayed at the exhibition rooms of the uncompleted Brong-Ahafo Regional Cultural Centre, which was started way back in the First Republic, because they were few.
He observed that exhibitors comprised mainly of people from the other parts of the country, with only few from the Brong-Ahafo, the host region.
Madam Grace Owusuah, a public servant, stated that she did not find the programme interesting, because anytime she visited Jubilee Park she found the place not active and attractive.
Madam Owusuah added that even people around the Jubilee Park stood afar unconcerned as if nothing was at stake.
She stated that such a national programme should have made the Sunyani town and its roads busy, but nothing of that sort was experienced throughout the six-day period.
She appealed to the organizers to learn from their mistakes and do their home work very well, to make the programme attractive in the near future.
Surprisingly, officials of the Arts and Culture declined to talk to the GNA.
Source: GNA