Let’s give Mrs Bawumia the benefit of doubt

The wife of the Vice President, Mrs Samira Bawumia, faced intense backlash last week after pictures emerged of her in a photo session with cast of the highly popular Indian produced television soap opera Kumkum Bhagya.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Ghanaian entertainment scene will know how KumKum Bhagya is in equal parts adored and scorned by Ghanaians. For some, the series is a bad influence on the youth as well as being partly responsible for the poor fortunes of the Ghanaian entertainment industry.

Mrs Samira Bawumia defended the pictures which went viral with the reason that she was “Meeting with some key members of the Indian entertainment industry, exploring possibilities of collaboration to boost the budding movie industry in Ghana.”

Taken on face value, Mrs Bawumia’s explanation falls flat mainly because her meeting with key members of the Indian entertainment industry did not include a single representative from the Ghanaian movie industry.

Showbiz is however of the opinion that we should not be quick to scoff at Mrs Bawumia’s explanation. Despite the absence of Ghanaian representatives from the film industry there is still the possibility that Mrs Bawumia might have engaged in some high level discussions which might bear fruit in the not too distant future.

As it stands, the Ghanaian movie industry is on its last legs and any attempt to save it from dying completely should be welcome. Like it or not, there is a lot Ghana stands to learn from India in the area of film making.

Showbiz urges Ghanaians to give Mrs Bawumia the benefit of the doubt and see what comes out of this meeting in India.