By Daniel Adu Darko
Accra, Feb.26, GNA – The President of the Ghana Hotels Association (GHA), Dr Edward Ackah-Nyamike Jnr, has been appointed to serve on the Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts sub-committee of the 2024 Manifesto Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
His appointment has been greeted with speculations about his affiliation with the ruling party.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency to set the records straight, Dr Ackah-Nyamike Jnr said he had never been a member of the NPP and is currently not a member.
“My appointment to serve on the committee is strictly professional to tap into my experience in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry,” he noted.
“I see this as a unique opportunity to feed the Manifesto directly with issues very dear to the heart of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry for redress. Being apolitical, if NDC had approached me with a similar role, I may have seized the opportunity; but the NPP approached me first, which is why you see my name on the list.”
Dr Ackah-Nyamike said prior to his appointment, a leading member of the NPP, who happened to be a family friend, informed him about the formation of the 2024 NPP Manifesto Committee of which his input was needed on Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts.
He said he willingly accepted to serve on the committee after consultations with industry players and some executives of his association, given his leadership role and experience in the tourism and hospitality industry over the past two decades.
“After a few days of pondering over it and consulting a couple of industry players and executives of the Ghana Hotels Association, I informed him that I was ready to serve in that capacity for God and country,” Dr Ackah-Nyamike said.
“…He was happy about my response and promised to get back to me after further discussions with the bigger team. The next discussion about the topic was when the full list of members on the Manifesto Committee was released a couple of days ago and I started receiving calls over it.”
He said the appointment would offer him the opportunity to move the operations of the Association from advocacy to action by inserting its issues and challenges into the manifesto of a major political party with the chance of running the next government.
“Over the years we sit on the fence for governments to come to power and then we play our advocacy role to get our aspirations met. This time we have the opportunity to insert our issues and challenges right into the Manifesto of a major political party, which has a good chance of running the next government,” Dr Ackah-Nyamike said.
“This is certainly a positive effect of this appointment. On the negative side, some suggest that I will be mute on advancing Association matters in the media landscape and other quarters … because of my appointment on the Manifesto Committee.”
He, however, assured his members and the public that he would continue to serve the Association with integrity, dedication, courage and diligence as he had done over the past six years as its President.
Even though Dr Ackah-Nyamike did not mention what he would contribute to strengthening the 2024 NPP Manifesto on Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, he had always advocated the need for governments to address levies, taxes and other charges affecting the operations of the hospitality industry.
Transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the Tourism Development Fund was one of his advocacies to ensure it supported tourism trade associations with annual allocations.
Dr Ackah-Nyamike had urged governments to construct roads leading to tourist sites in the country, pursue the E-Visa agenda and establish the National Tourism Policy to boost the tourism economy.
GNA