How BBC reported Akufo-Addo graphic ‘theft’

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been accused of an alleged theft of some graphical excerpts after he [Akufo-Addo] shared a video to promote his tourism agenda.

This followed a post the president shared via his Twitter handle.

Budding Ghanaian musician, Kirani Ayat, accused the president of using graphical excerpts in his music video without his consent.

According to Ayat, this was after the Ministry failed to heed his [Kirani Ayat] plea to use the song ‘GUDA’ to endorse tourism in the North.

“The president of Ghana has used my video ‘GUDA’ in this ad to promote Ghana. I was actively reaching out to the Ministry of Tourism in 2018/19 to use this video to push tourism in the North and got NO reply, yet today it’s in an ad and no one reached out to me for permission,” he shared.

After the disclosure by the artiste, some concerned citizens have taken up the issue to address it with the hopes that the president will give the artiste the needed decorum for using his property.

In reaction to this, the Ghana Tourism Authority has responded to the claims by Kirani Ayat.

In a statement, the Ghana Tourism Authority said the footage was acquired legitimately through an agency and has been using it since 2019.

“For the record, the footage in question was acquired legitimately from a bespoke creative agency as part of a project in 2019.

“This video has thus been played severally locally and internationally without any issue. The content was used in accordance with the terms agreed with the agency and not as being alleged,” the statement said.

However, the international media was not left out in this development.

See how BBC reported the story:

The BBC’s report was captioned “Ghana president accused of breaching copyright ”.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has been accused of using a musician’s work without permission or credit to advertise the country to tourists. Ghanaian musician Kirani Ayat said he reached out to the government for support before shooting his Guda music video but he was turned down. The video was shot in northern Ghana and features scenic views and showcases the local culture. On Tuesday Ayat lashed out at the president after he shared a promo video:

Kirani said he worked a 12-hour shift as a security guard for seven days over a three-month period to save money for the video production costs.

“I reached out a couple of times to no avail. I was depressed throughout that period,” the musician wrote. The government is yet to respond to the copyright allegations.

Ghanaians on social media have encouraged the musician to sue the government for copyright infringement. Ghana has previously marketed the country for tourism with the famous year of return initiative launched in 2019 termed a great success by the government.

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Several international celebrities visited the country that year.