Govt developing 5-year strategic plan

THE Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture is developing a five-year strategic plan to integrate culture into the national development planning processes to accelerate poverty reduction and wealth creation.
The plan, which is expected to be completed in November, this year, is currently having its major challenges addressed and appropriate systems put in place for the effective delivery of the ministry’s mandate.
Taking his turn at the Meet-the-Press series in Accra yesterday, the sector Minister, Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensah, said in view of the challenges, the legal framework regulating the mandates and activities of the National Commission on Culture, the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, the National Theatre of Ghana, the Ghana Dance Company, Abibigromma and the National Symphony Orchestra was to be reviewed in order to streamline their mandates and functions.
He added that, among other things, a road map for the continuation of research and documentation of customary law and its usage at the level of traditional councils was to be ascertained and developed into law for all traditional councils, noting that 30 traditional areas would be covered in 2011.
As part of the review, Mr Asum-Ahensah said, the regional theatres had been identified as areas where jobs could be created not only during construction but the post-construction period as well, particularly in the areas of crafts and performing arts.
The minister said the ministry was organising the 2010 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC), which is scheduled for Tamale from November 20 to 27.
It is on the theme: “Promoting Unity, Technology and Wealth Creation for better Ghana: The Role of the Youth in Nation Building” and the event is to serve as a platform to strengthen bonds and friendship and brotherhood among Ghanaians from all walks of life.
He was of the belief that NAFAC, as an event, continued to undergo changes to reflect the realities of the day, pointing out that whereas in the past the occasion promoted the performing arts for the entertainment and delight of the general public, the current focus of NAFAC was shifting towards development and job-creation.
Turning the spotlight on revenue accruing to agencies under the ministry, the minister said the National Theatre recorded a gross operational income of GH¢2,678.252, including internally generated funds of GH¢1,559,152, representing 58 per cent of gross operational income for the period ending December 31, 2009, and the remainder being government subvention of GH¢1,119,100 representing 42 per cent of gross operational income.
Mr Asum-Ahensah said given the fact that the ministry was a relatively new one, its policy guidelines, organisational structure and functional relationships with diverse and multiple stakeholder organisations were still emerging.
He explained that the situation posed challenges to the ministry, which included inherent inconsistencies in the legislative framework of the various laws and policies establishing the various agencies within the sector, weak human resource capacity, particularly at the sub-national level, and inadequacy of funding and logistics required to support the statutory functions of chiefs.