We know the Shatta Wale-VGMA fracas story so far, don’t we? It seems the Dancehall King has backtracked on his words and now wants be officially included in the Vodafone Ghana Music scheme again.
In a recent interview on the Pundit, Shatta Wale said apologetically thus, “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.
In response to Shatta’s comments, the board Chairman of the VGMA, Nii Ayittey Hammond, has asked the award-winning musician 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,”
Nii Ayittey was obviously not happy with Shatta Wale’s attitude in the past and how he denigrated in many occasions publicly.
“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 Shatta Wale from the awards on grounds of misconduct.
The VGMA boss also clarified that no one is trying to victimise Shatta Wale as most of his diehard fans believe.
“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 organisers victimise him now?” he queried.
