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Readers’ Mail: African Movie Academy Awards Is Bias, Has Non Reflective Jury & They Have Gotten It Wrong Again!

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Hello Chris Vincent and Ghanacelebrities.com. My name is Leslie Berth Walker, a senior film student at the Georgia State University. Your website has been an immense help to me in my study of African Cinema. But today, I read with great disappointment the letter sent you by the AMAA regarding their flawed nominations list.
I have followed the award scheme for 3 years now and attended the one held in Bayelsa last year to cover it for my documentary class. I was quite impressed to see someone rose up to challenge the award nomination list, but to read their response was a great disappointment and a shame to the reputation of the awards.
3 years ago, the award nominated Perfect Picture’s three actresses as leads and all three ladies won. I am surprised that the AMAA are making such a lame excuse for relegating Omotola Jalade Ekeinde’s  role in Ties That Bind, which I was privileged to watch at the WOCAF in Atlanta last week, to a supporting role.
The headline for Ties That Bind I believe is 3 women, 3 lives, 1 hope.  Omotola did not play a supporting role in Ties That Bind, she is a member of the three women who make up the story. Ama Abebrese may have had more scenes, but that was made possible because of the presence of the clinic and her being a Dr.
Her story did not surround her job, the clinic. The clinic was part of the story as a character because it was used as an element of adumbrating. Each of the women had different stories but they all knew each other, a phenomenon that surely influenced the title, The Ties That Bind.
To suggest that Ama Abebrese was sole lead casts a doubt on the competence of the jury. The best way to have done this was to nominate all three women in a supporting role category as they all supported each other in the story or nominate them as an Ensemble Performance. There were many more nominations obviously denied Ties That Bind, cinematography being one of them. The film was breathtakingly photographed, from the bulging hills of Ghana and the warmth we have come to love about Africa. But, I do not intend to go into that.
I think it’s safe to say that relegating Omotola to a supporting role was intentional. Despite Omotola’s brilliant performance in last year’s nominated film A Private Storm, she was denied a nomination. Without a doubt, her performance in Ties That Bind is not something anyone can ignore but they managed to insult her by nominating her in a supporting role.  I hope the AMAA is not an institute that carries out personal vendettas.
My last concern about the AMAA is the type of films that are nominated. Viva Riva, like Othelo Burning and How to Steal Two Million are great films. But, they are also violent films that do not portray Africa in a good light.
It is the responsibility of the AMAA’s to create the Africa they want the world to see.  Giving credit to films from Africa that feed the stereotype Hollywood has created about Africa is not the way to go.  Viva Riva was filled with violence, sex and an immoral lead character that was beyond redemption.
I am African American, we have been shown images of Africa that are of poverty, violence and sex. It’s natural that those are the kind of stories we expect to see from there; those are the genres we are easily identify with. When I began my research into Africa Cinema, I realized that cinema is the most reliable way to create a new image for Africa other than the one the western media has created. I have come to admire filmmakers like Tunde kelani, Leila Djansi, Jeta Amata, Izi Ijukwu, Kunle Afolayan who strive to tell stories about Africa that are positive, life changing and have hero’s with good hearts.
The jury for the AMAA is biased, why are learned African men and women not part of the Jury? Why is the jury composed of African Americans who have a morphed view of who they are? I am one of those African Americans who believe we are lost. I do not wear a Dashiki to convince myself that I am black. I am Black, my skin says so and that is enough. I do not go out of my way to identify with my African brothers and sisters because our journeys are different. I am accepting of whom I am and of those that surround me.
Africa has great many scholars; my favorite writer, Ama Ata Aidoo is Ghanaian. She could easily be a jury member. Wole Soyinka comes to mind, people who are African and know their people and know also their stories.  Not even an African American who thinks he has found his “roots” will be fair to an African story because he has bought into the American Dream. In that American dream, the stereotypes rule.
I sincerely hope you will publish my letter and someone from the AMAAs will read it. I will be in Lagos for this years event. I am looking forward to it and to speaking with some of the filmmakers who will be in attendance. Your website is a great tool to use in revolutionizing organizations like the AMAA Award to strive to create a strong and positive image of Africa that does not seek acceptance from the West.
Keep up the good work.
Leslie Berth Walker
Department of Communications
Film and Video Major
Georgia State University
[email protected]
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
You can send your Readers’ Mail directly to me via [email protected]
It may take some time to get published because I receive a lot of such mails and need to publish them one after the other. Thank You



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0 thoughts on “Readers’ Mail: African Movie Academy Awards Is Bias, Has Non Reflective Jury & They Have Gotten It Wrong Again!”

  1. This is africa to you.
    everything they (africans) do is trying so hard to copy the west because africans think by doing so the world will accept them and, what happen is africans forget about their own culture and arts.

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  2. its like someone prepared intelligence concoction and fed this to this leslie person. and you are akata? na wah o. you are very smart.
    the nomination list is very disgusting and I will be very surprised if I do not hear a something very soon from leila Djansi regarding the award. she already denounced it on her facebook last week. I feel very bad for Omotola. it is very disrespectful of the award to give her supporting actress when the roles they all played had equal measure. for colored girls nominated all the actresses in supporting role for the naacps. and for somewhere in Africa to nominate for production design over ties that bind was very wrong too. we saw pictures of how they built the set on facebook. and somewhere in africa that just walked into someones house and shot there recieved a nomination. if you ask me, someone inside the AMAA award is trying to cut someone to size. just my opinion.

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  3. Is good people are picking up on these African awards which are full  of bias, scam and injustice. And thanks to GC for publishing too, for this I will say Chris has done something good in years lol

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  4. Ghana celebrities God bless you for publishing this,and Leslie you are indeed an angel and to think you are not even African makes this even more chilling. All Africans are outraged at this nomination of omotola in the supporting category and most people are discussing this…it is truly annoying and shocking. I have also watched Ties that bind and Omotola, Ama and Kimberly ellise played the led roles…This is a conspiracy against Omotola and may her God fight for her! Thanks to all.

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  5. Finally someone has the guts to bring this out, I am so glad, all the points raised by Leslie are so true and I hope something will be done about it as soon as possible, The Ghana Movie Awards is equally questionable and the earlier they get their acts together the better, i just wish that the veterans in the film industry will come together and set up a proper awards scheme

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  6. ALAS!!! Someone out there sees this too.I think AMAA is being tribal i mean omotola sure has been doing great right from the 90s and they fail to give her wht she deserves.The movie mortal inheritance where she was nominated for best actress in lead role i was shcoked that she didn’t win after such brilliant perfromance.Last year again she wasnt even nominated for her role in private storm and AMAA has d guts to nominate ehr for a suporting role,dat’s absurd.If u observe their past winner i hardly see any yoruba there,where are the likes of bimbo Akintola,dose great yoruba actresses and now omotola.That award is fraud.

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  7. Just as an aside is a supporting actress not an honour, Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Every award or festival has their own criteria so it’s best  to leave them to their criteria”s Is OMOTOLA saying she is too big to play second fiddle to AMA K,I watched Ties that bind and i can see why the Jury decided that  Omotola was Supporting ,Being a theatre  person I think OMOTOLA  should be celebrating the fact that she got a nomination at all rather than paying people whilst in LA to be her bull Dog, Also Looking at the AMAA website I see there are only 2 African AMerican’s on the Jury and they are  people who worked in African Cinema for more than Twenty years . The AMAA screening panel is the most transparent  process that I have observed in the last  5 years and Omotola has also won the AMAA before, and Again How  is AMA being tribal is AMA K from another tribe in NIGERIA??? please let our comments be objective, and if AMAA is so bad Leslie why do you wish to attend, as for Leila Djansi the director of  TIES That BInd, YOU ARE NOT THE BEST DIRECTOR from GHANA so quite bitching about other people ,You must learn to be humble and respect that other people can be better than you, As for the AMAA people I do not think that they should have reacted to the stupid first article as the person was un intelligent 

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    • @Timi, who let the u out? who even mentioned leila djansi’s name in the article? did you hear her bitch? if you know of who omotola is paying in LA why not say it and stop being the bull dog? another jealous person as arrived. at least the writer has the guts to reveal herself and her school and everything. you nko, who are you? say your name, let us roll call you. show your face you coward. so person no fit call spade a spade again? are you on Ama k’s payroll? she send you? or AMAA send you? jealousy. skin pain.

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    • @Timi, back to u Timi,
      just as the writer said, this same AMAA nominated and awarded three actresses for lead role for perfect picture. did Lydia and Naa Ashorkor not play supporting to Jackie? the story of that film was clearly about jackie, and she had more scenes, but all three won. that was their criteria. so why is ties that bind and Omotola different? Ama K’s nomination is not being questioned, we are all of the opinion that someone bullying Omotola.

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    • i just searched her wall on facebook and what she said was people should stop emailing her about why Omotola was nominated as best supporting, that such questions should be directed at the AMAA awards people. how is that bitching? Its obvious you hate leila djansi. with comments like she should stop bitching she is not the best director in ghana blah blah. you hate her. why, may I ask are you her friend on facebook? to monitor her? I know jealousy makes you want to keep your eyes on people you wish to see fail. does she come you for money? what is your own whether she is humble or not? that is a complain her mother should make. not someone like you or me who may have never met her and whose’s opinions of her are one sided articles in a tabloid or a reaction to an issue. since you are so up for whats right and wrong, how about you apply that to how you make judgments of people you don’t know? I can bet my last dollar you have never met leila djansi or interacted with her on any kind of personal level and therefore you can’t have any kind of fair opinion of her. simple.
      even if AMAA spent 20 years screening films, so what? magic happened and they got it right? I don’t even remember the last time Omotola attended AMAA awards. its is the attention hungry people that chase after such things. from all indications, leila djansi has also outgrown such trivial awards. this is about africans doing things right. Omotola did not play supporting role. that decision is not up to the judges but to the person who created the film.

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      • @aisha411, you’ve said it all
        Even if she was nominated in dat lead role category i knw omotola wont attend dat award to show how classy she is.
        It is up to the director of the movie to decide d lead roles and she said Amak,omotola and kmberly were d leads so AMAA should re-trace their steps cos they are fraud

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    • @ timi
      i searched her wall on facebook and what she said was people should stop emailing her about why Omotola was nominated as best supporting, that such questions should be directed at the AMAA awards people. how is that bitching? Its obvious you hate leila djansi. with comments like she should stop bitching she is not the best director in ghana blah blah. you hate her. why, may I ask are you her friend on facebook? to monitor her? I know jealousy makes you want to keep your eyes on people you wish to see fail. does she come you for money? what is your own whether she is humble or not? that is a complain her mother should make. not someone like you or me who may have never met her and whose’s opinions of her are one sided articles in a tabloid or a reaction to an issue. since you are so up for whats right and wrong, how about you apply that to how you make judgments of people you don’t know? I can bet my last dollar you have never met leila djansi or interacted with her on any kind of personal level and therefore you can’t have any kind of fair opinion of her. simple.
      even if AMAA spent 20 years screening films, so what? magic happened and they got it right? I don’t even remember the last time Omotola attended AMAA awards. its is the attention hungry people that chase after such things. from all indications, leila djansi has also outgrown such trivial awards. this is about africans doing things right. Omotola did not play supporting role. that decision is not up to the judges but to the person who created the film.

      Reply
    • @ timi
      i searched her wall on facebook and what she said was people should stop emailing her about why Omotola was nominated as best supporting, that such questions should be directed at the AMAA awards people. how is that bitching? Its obvious you hate leila djansi. with comments like she should stop bitching she is not the best director in ghana blah blah. you hate her. why, may I ask are you her friend on facebook? to monitor her? I know jealousy makes you want to keep your eyes on people you wish to see fail. does she come you for money? what is your own whether she is humble or not? that is a complain her mother should make. not someone like you or me who may have never met her and whose’s opinions of her are one sided articles in a tabloid or a reaction to an issue. since you are so up for whats right and wrong, how about you apply that to how you make judgments of people you don’t know? I can bet my last dollar you have never met leila djansi or interacted with her on any kind of personal level and therefore you can’t have any kind of fair opinion of her. simple.
      even if AMAA spent 20 years screening films, so what? magic happened and they got it right? I don’t even remember the last time Omotola attended AMAA awards. its is the attention hungry people that chase after such things. from all indications, leila djansi has also outgrown such trivial awards. this is about africans doing things right. Omotola did not play supporting role. that decision is not up to the judges but to the person who created the film.

      Reply
  8. wow! wow! great article leslie. i wish all african americans were as smart as u r. well AMAA I m not surprise of their bias. they even have a category for nigeria movies only yet its called africa movie academy award.

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  9. @ AISHA what your own  email and picture why are you so defensive am reacting to an that I do not think is well researched and show’s bai’s , You cannot compare the roles in perfect picture and that of ties that bind, Please I read Leila’s comments on face book about the nominations as well, on the ama jury a little google reaearch will  show that the writer is uneducated about the people that make up AMAA Jury, and as for AMA K i don’t know her and I do not care I am asking an objective question based on the comments of the writer, has he watched the other films nominated in AMAA to realise that his comments are unfounded, please my problems with us bloody african is that we all have a PHD sydrome ,AMAA made their screening process open this year allowing  camera crews to vist thir campsite, I watched on Nigerian Television that is why am saying what am saying they camped from january till march 15tth watching films they interviewed all the screeners that were at the collage of screener, my problem is most of these actresses have huge ego”s and do not understand the fact that lead or supporting its a big thing to be nominated, and AMAA has not shown a bias in its process but leila and omotola have been bitching since they got the nomination, what if the film was not nominated at all I beg what will happen ,@ AISHA be objective and stop being emotional, please all you need to do is a little research to see how flawed this writer is, and omotola is in LA at the moment as she keeps saying so 1+1 =2 as far as me i concern, but this is my last word on this matter na una sabi neither AMA K or AMAA are even losing sleep over this matter so wetin be my own sef jor

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  10. You this Timi just needs to shut up! You are obviously a huge fan of Leila and Omotola fir you to ecpven know Omotola is in LA right now! How much can you lie so openly and shamelessly? Are you insane? Omotola since this episode started has not made a comment not even a sound! I follow her on Twitter and everyone isvwaiting but she has refused to comment, where then did you see your own omotola’s bitching? Leila the writer and Director stated the Roles her 3 leading women played are lead roles and not supporting so questions should be directed to amaa organizers and not her,as fans have bombarded her email how is that bitching?
    The whole world can’t be wrong and you and amaa alone be right! This might signal the end of support for Amaa. You made allegations out of emotion and people said reveal yourself. No ure running around telling us how you watched nominations on Nigerian tv. Have you watched Ties that bind? You are the Bloody African with No phd! Leslie who wrote thus piece is not even African she’s Amereican….you sound totally unintelligent ish….

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  11. You this Timi just needs to shut up! You are obviously a huge fan of Leila and Omotola fir you to ecpven know Omotola is in LA right now! How much can you lie so openly and shamelessly? Are you insane? Omotola since this episode started has not made a comment not even a sound! I follow her on Twitter and everyone isvwaiting but she has refused to comment, where then did you see your own omotoIla’s bitching? Leila the writer and Director stated the Roles her 3 leading women played are lead roles and not supporting so questions should be directed to amaa organizers and not her,as fans have bombarded her email how is that bitching?
    The whole world can’t be wrong and you and amaa alone be right! This might signal the end of support for Amaa. You made allegations out of emotion and people said reveal yourself. No ure running around telling us how you watched nominations on Nigerian tv. Have you watched Ties that bind? You are the Bloody African with No phd! Leslie who wrote thus piece is not even African she’s Amereican….you sound totally unintelligent ish….

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  12. This is Africans for you. They start something nice and with nice, they get all emotional, tribalism and allows discrimination to kill it. So if the jury can decide as to who is lead without any set out criteria, then it means they can even decide that a cameo is a lead if they want and we will have nothing to complain right?
    Anything must have laid down rules and precedents, by the perfect picture precedents, Omotola, Ama K and Kim are supposed to be leads in the eye of the jury. SIMPLES

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  13. Omotola is such a gud actress, i love her so much & i dnt understand why she was nominated 4 Best Supporting Actress in Ties That Bind…bt i think she should jst be humble and receive d nomination. Afterall many actresses in Hollywood lyk Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchet & Merryl Streep all won an Oscar For best Supporting Actresses in movies they acted as lead…Criteria 4 different award differs.

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  14. @ AISHa and others please just do some research before you make comments,Omotala did a twit of this article on her twitter page , why is kimberly elsie not shout her own too, My question still remains is OMOTOLA to big to be Humble, as an actor and allow AMA K her co acctor enjoy,  to others I wonder if you understand that every body can interpret a film in anyway they choose and its not based on the director, We can all think our film is the best but what of if it is not , we are all shouting because of nomination what will haopen at the award if she does not win,?? then AMAA  would have cheated her as they are so use less????? Guys my comments are based on the fact that as an actor you are taught to be humble and never think you are better than  the rest, and just because a jury have made a decision on something does not mean the award is bad how can award that is African have tribal conotations, AMAA on their Jury as on their website have only two African Americans, there are more African’s on thier jury, what pains me in this nonsense is the ignorance  not reading please leslie name all the Jury members of AMAA who are AFRICAN AMERICAN and then let us know,, Its EGO thats worrying and EGO comes before a fall,all I know is that there should be sportsmanship and that Omotola should celebrate her nomination and not complain

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    • @Timi, Omotola did not complain at all,ghanacelebs tweeted this article at her and she retweeted it allowing her fans to read it.Omotola even laughed it off when she was approached by fans on why she should be nominated in that category.The fact is she was cheated,dis is her year but if u want to go there on if she’s better than the rest nominated for leadroles,yes she is better than them.

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    • @Timi, I am so happy there are learned people on this site ! You are so pathetic at your attempt to smear other people’s reputation, it is obvious you’re the bull dog you described earlier been paid to be here…how much are they paying you? Not much am sure cos you don’t sound that valuable! Thank God people here who follow OMOTOLA on Twitter have put out the true state. The actress rts tweets at her mostly when she’s not tweeting so her fans can read and tis was tweeted at her. You asked why Kimberly ellise is not shouting her own too( bad English formation to start with)Who told you Kimberly knows who or what amaa is? Or even cares for it???Trying to stir up unnecessary controversy, asking if Omotola is too Big to humble?and allow amak enjoy? Oh is that your mission?you conclude it’s Ego that’s worrying….you are obviously a sad sour fighter…you finally expose yourself to make it obvious it’s personal ! But others have dealth with your other nonsensenses so…

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  15. I cant believe just to bring omotola down and make ehr look bad in front of everyone u pull out this blatant lie.Go on twitter and facebook,omotola never made a comment the only thing she did yesterday was when ghanacelebs twitted at her and she retweeted dem.Even if she bitches she has every right in the world to do so,yes as an actress ur meant to be humble same time an actress should know her worth so they shouldn’t try this next time.Omotola is being cheated in the sense that dey cant do this to genny nor kate henshaw so why do it to her cos she’s yoruba?

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  16. It is the prerogative of the award committee to give the supporting role to whoever. It is always a problem when there’s an ensemble cast. Screen time doesn’t really count and story is often subjective. Examples from the Oscars: Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for a less than 30mins on screen appearance, Jamie Foxx was nominated in supporting category for Collateral when many felt he was lead ahead of Tom Cruise in that movie. Then there was the John Travolta/Samuel L. Jackson case in Pulp Fiction for which the latter was wrongly, according to several people, nominated in the supporting category. The point is, with ensemble cast it’s difficult to pick individual actors for awards. Which is perhaps why there’s an Ensemble category in the Golden Globes. Frankly, AMAA has brought this on itself In giving all three actresses same award last year, AMAA tried to have it both ways, which is where it has erred. It will be necessary to properly delineate the categories and stop muddling it up thereby opening themselves up to avoidable criticism. The tribal angle being introduced is unfortunate.
    And Timi, the Academy has a right to respond to these queries. But it should have been a media-wide statement.
    I personally believe, the Nigerian category is to assuage the Nigerian ego, since it’s almost certain a Nigerian picture is unlikely to win the top prize. That said, the reason given by AMAA is perfectly reasonable. For all the inclusiveness of the Oscars, there’s a foreign category and film are largely based on US cinemas; the BAFTA has a Best British Film category- though Britain is not a continent as Africa is. Still parallels can be drawn.
    It’s impressive people care enough to respond to the arts, which is largely viewed as idle activity in Africa. But the tribal colouring takes a lot from this impression. We can focus on the art. We should focus on the art.
    http://www.thepingofpong.wordpress.com

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  17. if the jury r reading this, then one thing i think should not be on the list is the best nigeria film category. they can give that award at nigeria movies award.

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  18. AMAA your response http://bit.ly/H8mbwZ to this piece above is insufficient. so all three actress in perfect picture can get noms as best actress while omotola gets supporting role nom for a film centered on three women’s struggle to hope kwa? you know when you guys negleted ini edo’s performance in native son, genevieve nnaji’s in wind of glory and silent scandals, omotola jalade’s in my story and private storm and many more i still gave you all a benefit of the doubt. but tracing back to see all these women never really have supported amaa it all makes sense that uche jombo and rita dominic overdramatic performance gets noms in best actress in a leading role while omotola, an obvious powerful lead, gets supporting actress.
    the problem with AMAA is bias as said by a film school student here http://bit.ly/HerDNe. I follow the official AMAA twitter page and once saw guys mention kate henshaw, nse ekpe and rita dominic as the biggest actresses in african cinema you anticipate to walk down your red carpet. that was so stupid i unfollowed after i read that bs. whoever tweeted that should be fired. i have never seen any credible organised award show display such favouritism. i noticed legendary actors like genevieve nnaji, omotola jalade and ramsey noauh hardly or never attend your ceremonies even when nominated. the ama abebrese that won last year didn’t even attend because she was filming. filmsy excuse. oscars and gloden globes ceremony have managed to remain important because it attracts angelina jolie, nicole kidman, tom cruise and all the big stars in hollywood even when there are not nominated. if you guys think we africans are enthusiastic about AMAA guests being vivica fox, forrest whittaker and co, think again. some of us don’t know these people and even if we do AMAA is an african award. do what you can to invite the leading actors in africa not B-listers in hollywood.
    amaa these criticism is for your betterment, you may neglect it if you choose but if you guys keep dishing out bs every year amaa might not achieve its purpose. transparency is needed in your whole system, play down the politics

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