Our artistes deserve the honour

It was a chance to enjoy another night of good live music but guests at the  Oak Plaza  Hotel on the Spintex Road in Accra last Friday, August 4 knew the occasion was more auspicious than simply dancing the night away.  

The hotel, in collaboration with MTN, honoured highlife musician, Anmandzeba,  at  the well-attended second edition of its ‘Dinner With the Stars’ programme.

The essence of  the ‘Dinner With the Stars’ event, as explained by the hotel’s management, is to express the high respect held for the artiste while alive. The first edition came off last January at which K.K. Fosu was honoured.

Our society has grown used to long tributes paid to the dead at their funerals.

As the late musician/actor,  Bob Cole, however, said and was applauded before he passed away  in 1993, this society needed to accord our excellent artistes the due recognition before they died.

A lot has happened to indicate that  Bob Cole’s suggestion landed in some listening ears. Admittedly, there have been programmes to acknowledge the achievements of a variety of creative personalities in recent years.

We remember, for example,  the National Theatre’s ‘Living Legends’ series;  Salt and Light Ministry’s ‘Evening With A Composer’ series and Dr Kweku Osafo’s 72nd birthday celebration in 2015 that honoured  some of our best-known highlife stars.

We see  Oak Plaza Hotel’s ‘Dinner With the Stars’  initiative as another laudable attempt to show respect to our excellent, living  artistes.

Our artistes touch,  uplift and even provoke us with their work. They deserve  the  honour for proudly marketing this country through their work.