Chairman of the Ghana Rights Organization (GHAMRO), Rex Omar
The Ghana Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) has said it will pay royalties to the family of the late Nana Ampadu for the next 70 years.
The “Obra” hitmaker died on Tuesday, 28 September 2021, at the Legon Hospital in Accra where he was receiving treatment for an illness.
He was 76.
Nana Kwame Ampadu has numerous popular highlife tracks to his credit.
Ampadu’s “African Brothers Band” was formed in 1963.
He came to prominence in 1967 when he released his song Ebi Te Yie (or “Some Are Well Seated”), a song that was seen as potentially critical of the then-governing National Liberation Council and disappeared from the airwaves, only returning after the end of military rule.
In 1973, he won a nationwide competition in Ghana to be crowned the Odwontofoohene, or “Singer-in-Chief.
Some of his popular tunes include Obra (which became the theme song for one of the Akan Drama shows aired on GTV on Sundays), Getty, Oman Bo Adwo, Ebi Te Yie, Kofi Nkrabea, Yaw Berko, and Obi Benya Wo.
Speaking to Docta Kay on Accra100.5FM’s drivetime show Nkran Kwanso recently, GHAMRO Chairman Rex Omar said: “We’ll pay royalties to Nana Ampadu’s family for the next 70 years; that’s what the law says”.
“It will be paid every six months”, he clarified, adding: “If the board eventually changes the six-month payment to every three months, we will be paying it every three months for the next 70 years.”