The board Chairman of the VGMA, Nii Ayittey Hammond, has asked award-winning Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale, to publicly apologise if he wants to be part of the Ghana Music Awards in future.
He argued that if Shatta Wale was remorseful as he posited on the TV show Pundit recently, then he must be bold to use those same platforms to apologise for discrediting the VGMA.
“I can’t speak for the board now but personally, if Shatta Wale has faith in the credibility of the VGMAs and wants to be part of it, then he must be bold to use the same means he used to discredit the awards to settle the matter,” the VGMA boss told Showbiz in an exclusive interview yesterday.
Hammond’s response came in the wake of pleas by the ‘Taking Over’ on GHOne’s Pundit show a fortnight ago that he would love to be part of subsequent VGMAs.
“I have to be there. VGMA is like National Anthem. It is God Bless our Homeland Ghana. I have apologised so many times and don’t know how people want this thing to be done but you know me. I wish we take this case from court because it is entertainment,” Shatta Wale pleaded with The Pundit host, George Quaye.
However, it appears the VGMA board will not just grant Shatta Wale his wish on a silver platter unless he does the needful by publicly apologising for bringing the image of the awards into disrepute.
The VGMA board chairman questioned why Shatta Wale would want to be a part of a scheme he had denigrated in many occasions publicly. He explained that the rules governing the awards scheme empower the board to exclude any artiste who misconducts his or herself, to which the board duly complied with “laid down rules” by excluding the dancehall artiste from subsequent events.
“How do you want to be part of a scheme you have labelled as fraudulent? Do we know the implications of the comments on the image of the scheme? It’s unfortunate our critics aren’t considering thisissue.
“The VGMA is a global brand which has attained a lot of respect outside the country. You can’t bring the name of the scheme into disrepute and undermines its credibility and yet, expect to be part of it,” argued Hammond, who explained that stakeholders from the music industry who constitute the VGMA board voted on the decision to exclude the Shatta Wale from the awards on grounds of misconduct.
He said it was unfortunate people blamed Charterhouse, organisers of VGMA, for the disqualification of the music artiste singer and insisted the action was not a personal vendetta for his unwarranted attack on the C.E.O. of Charterhouse, Theresa Ayoade.
“Charterhouse didn’t ban Shatta Wale and it has never done that. Besides, Shatta Wale hasn’t been banned from the VGMA. He was only excluded from the scheme for misconduct and the decision was taken by the board members of VGMA and not Charterhouse.
“Shatta Wale won Artiste of the Year in 2014, exactly a year after he had gone berserk for losing the Dancehall Artiste of the Year award to Kaakie in 2013. Yet, nobody denied him what was rightfully his so why would the organiserrs victimise him now?” he queried.
Charterhouse is currently in court seeking damages of GHc10 million from Shatta Wale for defaming the brand some four years ago.