I worked as a security guard for 3 months to raise money for ‘Guda’ video – Kirani Ayat

Musician Kirani Ayat has revealed that he spent months raising money to shoot the music video for his son ‘Guda’ which went viral in 2018.

In a post on Twitter, the ‘Sarki’ rapper revealed that he worked as a security guard for months in his bid to earn money and create one of the best videos promoting tourism in the Northern part of Ghana.

“I worked 7 days a week from 7 pm to 7 am for 3 months straight as a security guard just to save up to make this “GUDA” video possible. Various awards shows snubbed it, the ministry ignored it, and I reached out a couple of times to no avail. I was depressed throughout that period,” he stated.

Kirani Ayat made this revelation after a video shared on President Akufo-Addo’s social media handles promoting tourism used footage from the ‘Guda’ music video.

The two-minute video featured different scenes from different parts of the country and a voice-over by the President encouraging tourism.

Beneath the deep blue sky, the Black Star is calling. Follow the stars and let them take you on a journey of our people. I invite everyone to the country at the centre of the world – #Ghana . #VisitGhana2022 pic.twitter.com/2m5KC2QTkt

— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) September 27, 2022

The musician who was not pleased stated that his content was used without his consent neither was he compensated for it.

He noted that in 2018 he actively reached out to the Tourism Ministry to push for the ‘Guda’ visuals to be used to promote the North but they did not reply to his calls.

“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 wrote.

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. https://t.co/vLnAP0bRqf

— Kirani Ayat (@KiraniAYAT) September 27, 2022

Kirani Ayat added that “whoever worked on this video should’ve reached out to the rightful content owners before proceeding. I spent my all in making GUDA possible, I’m sure you were paid for this job, where is my cut?”

Meanwhile, the director David Nicol-Sey also on Twitter stated that creatives deserve to get paid for their content especially when they had no help from anyone when making their content.

“Creatives struggle to create content with their last dime with zero support from @NAkufoAddo and @MOTACGhana. Did your team reach out to the content owners for authorisation before using @KiraniAYAT’s GUDA and @FuseODG’s African girl in promoting your “visit ghana” campaign?”

Creatives struggle to create content with their last dime with zero support from @NAkufoAddo and @MOTACGhana. Did your team reach out to the content owners for authorisation before using @KiraniAYAT‘s GUDA and @FuseODG‘s African girl in promoting your “visit ghana” campaign? https://t.co/dCxDhI29b3

— DAVID NICOL-SEY (@Davidnicolsey) September 27, 2022

He added that they would take the Ministry on for intellectual property theft.

A clear case of intellectual property infringement. @KiraniAYAT and I are taking this case on. https://t.co/dCxDhI1Blv

— DAVID NICOL-SEY (@Davidnicolsey) September 27, 2022

I directed both @FuseODG African girls and @KiraniAYAT Guda in 2018. https://t.co/dCxDhI1Blv

— DAVID NICOL-SEY (@Davidnicolsey) September 27, 2022