Nkonkonsa Celebrity Gossip From Africa
Movie producer and former Director of Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture, Socrate Safo disclosed that he did not receive any salary during the five years he was employed at the government agency.
During a panel discussion on Peace FM on Saturday, August 17, he revealed that musicians Nicholas Omane Acheampong and Isaiah Kwadwo Ampong complained about being neglected by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) despite their efforts to help the party come into power.
Socrate Safo, experiencing the same frustration as the two musicians, described how he and other arts professionals had used their own money to work for the party in past elections, travelling across the country to campaign, but they did not receive any party support.
He also mentioned that upon receiving a job offer following the party’s victory in the 2016 election, he had to renovate his new workspace due to its neglect.
Socrate Safo expressed his frustration following his appointment as Executive Secretary of the National Commission on Culture.
“I was appointed to serve at the National Commission on Culture. When I got there, I met an abandoned place. None of the workers were in their office because the building had become a death trap. So I went in and fixed the whole place to make it safe. I did a whole lot of programs within the creative arts front with my own money because there was no money there. There was not a single computer at the commission.
I got some computers and two printers to go and revamp the whole place, including electricity, with my own money. I did programmes with my own money and not government budget, but while I did all these, I was not being paid. Whenever I pursued my salary, I was told we were working on it,” Safo narrated.
He continued: “I was in the office when I was informed that somebody had come there with a letter that she’s been appointed to be the substantive head of the Commission. People vowed to resist my removal. When the woman came, I sat with her, and it emerged that she was given the appointment letter by one of the then Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Asenso Boakye.
Initially, I was the Executive Secretary of the Commission, and that position was given to her, and I was moved to Director of Creative Arts at the Commission. For all the time I worked there, I chased my salaries, but I was not paid a dime. I have chased my salaries to date; I have even taken the matter to the Labour Commission before. For five years I have never been paid; no salary for even a month.”
NKONKONSA.com
