GRi Arts & Culture 20 – 02 - 2003

Kiki Gyan returns from South Africa with great assurance

Accra (Greater Accra) 20 February 2003- Kiki Gyan, the man who played with the famed Afro-rock group Osibisa, returned home on Wednesday from South Africa after undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

The Ghana Substance Abuse Recovery Programme (G-SARP) in conjunction with the Musicians and Artists Programme of South Africa (MAPSA) founded by the world known musician Hugh Masekela made the month-long treatment programme possible.

Kiki Gyan, an organist, told newsmen on arrival that he underwent a series of therapy including ''consequences of drug abuse, craving after quitting and the psychology of drug addiction at the Elim Clinic at Johannesburg.''

He said before he left for South Africa he had already been through a lot of rehabilitation in Ghana for the past three years and he has now acquired the will power to quit drugs.

''What I went through as a drug addict affected my life and fortune to the extent that people thought I was finished. But by the help of God and good friends like Hugh Masekela I am now free.''

The ace musician was looking hale and hearty and said he would be a resource person for G-SARP in Ghana and give help to others. "I have to tell people to live a new life and encourage others not to experience what I have been through."

He said he would organise a fund raising musical concert for G-SARP and Valley View Clinic in Accra for the help they gave him throughout his trial periods. ''I intend to release a new gospel and inspirational album very soon. This is just the beginning of greater things to come in my musical career," he said.

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