�Baajo Hour� Launched To Promote Music, Dance

Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, has called on stakeholders in the creative industry to join hands with the Centre for National Culture to promote and generate resources for the industry.

She commended agencies under the Ministry for coming out with innovative ways and programmes to satisfy their clientele base, while increasing their internally generated funds.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare made the call at the launch of the maiden edition of �Baajo Hour�, an hour with traditional music and dance in Accra on Wednesday.

�Baajo�, which in Ga literally means �come and dance�, is a bi-weekly programme to be held on Fridays created to exhibit traditional cultural music, dance, to entertain and educate the public.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said culture was not only to shape art forms like literature, drama and painting but also to express how Ghanaians appreciated each other through their dancing and singing.

�Ultimately music and dance is about the expression of the human spirit and bringing people together from all walks of life and strengthening the unity of Ghanaians,� she said.

She said the maiden programme would help build a shared culture and engage the community as music and dance are essential elements that make Ghana a home for all.

Mr George Oppong, the Director for Centre for National Culture, said the Centre was doing its best to establish a police post to bring discipline to the area and thereby help prevent squatters, loiterers and �goro boys� from harassing tourists who visit the craft market.

He called on corporate institutions to support the Centre in its programmes to generate revenue for the state and expressed the hope that the programme would be sustained and developed to boost the cultural and tourism industry.

Source: GBC