Showbiz

Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy Ban from VGMA and Stripped of their Awards

Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy have been ban indefinitely from VGMAs. They were also stripped of their Awards they won on the night when the VGMA was celebrating 20 years of the event.

The board of the VGMA has also ordered the two to immediately return to the organisers of the awards, Charterhouse Ghana Limited, all the plagues they took home on the night

This decision was arrived at by the board after consultations and was made known to the general public at a news conference this morning.

The ban is an indefinite ban meaning they have been in illegible for any VGMA award. The two currently facing court charges over their action that caused fear and panic at the event.

Amandzeba Nat Brew made this known at a news conference as a result of the two artists bringing the name of the VGAM into disrepute. They will not be considered for nomination, selection and performance at any Vodafone music award scheme again.

The Board also revealed that the most popular song and artist of the year for the 20^th edition of the Vodafone award have also been nullified.

According to the VGMA board, the decision was taken after “careful deliberations” and “extensive consultation” with stakeholders in the music industry.

Eric Mawuena Egbeta a Starr FM reporter present at the news conference speaking to Starr Fm revealed after the announcement that, the two awards were nullified because it had to do with the two artists who they have banned. The Board of the VGMA was tight-lipped on who won what award since that may spark more trouble and cause the fans of both musicians to probably take on each other again.

Meetings held between the VGMA and the tourism industry on the fracas lead to the agreement that, a mediation committee is to be set up by the Tourism ministry to oversee a mediation of a sort between the two artists. It is hoped that is if implemented will help in peace and reconciliation.

According to Eric Mawuena Egbeta who spoke to Starr FM during the mid-day news, before the event was held on Saturday, the organisers of the VGMA invited Shatta Wale and his management to a meeting apparently during the pre-concert before the award. According to the information gathered there was a fracas backstage at one of the concerts organized at the independence square on Tuesday 7^th May 2019.

The organizers used the invitation to lay bare their fears and concerns since they did not want a repetition of what transpired at the independence square pre-concert to occur at the main event. Unfortunately, all the things they worked at preventing happened. The VGMA organizers are therefore demoralized and their hard work has gone down the drain as a result of the actions of Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy.

According to Arnold Asamoah Badu, an entertainment analyst who spoke to Starr FM which was monitored by newsghana24.com, he said although he respects their actions and decisions of the VGMA Board, he does not entirely agree with some of their decisions.

He said the decisions to stripe them of their awards was not good enough and too harsh since they won the awards on merit. He believes that the decision not to announce the other two wards was also not also the best because that should have been done for record purposes.

He added that he was expecting a ban for two or three years and not an indefinite and that their ban will affect the award event as Stonebwoy has dominated the category for five years and Shatta is a big contender as well.

He, however, believes the action of the organizers will help sanitize the music industry.