Veteran actor Fred Amugi says they were preparing to feature late former president Jerry John Rawlings in a movie before he got ill and died.
Fred Amugi revealed that the two-term president and two-time coup leader was his great friend.
He said they were confident he would return to cast in the movie but on Thursday, November 12 they heard the news that the former president was no more.
“I keep saying [Jerry John Rawlings] was the very person who made drama die and he was the same person who resurrected the theatre by putting up the National Theatre,” the former President of the Ghana Actors Guild (GAG) admitted.
He explained that the coup d’etats that the then Flight Lieutenant launched “made us sleep early”.
“So, there were no rehearsals for drama like it used to be. It took a long time before we were all ‘opened’ and at that time the enthusiasm with which people loved drama had died.”
Fred Amugi revealed in those days, there was a stage drama almost every weekend at the Arts Centre until the coup brought with it the curfew.
Former MUSIGA president Alhaji Sidiku Buari, who composed ‘Revolution’ for the June 4 revolutionary, said MUSIGA owes its current existence to Flt. Lt (rtd) Jerry John Rawlings.
“Seriously, the man was so open to the musicians and he loved the musicians,” he revealed.
“We have really lost somebody that actually was a factor to make the union what it is today.”
