The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts has set up a committee to mediate between feuding dancehall artistes Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy, the Chief Executive Officer of Charterhouse Ghana has disclosed.
Speaking on TV3’s Midday Live on Thursday, Theresa Ayoade said the mediation committee will have a wide spectrum of stakeholders including representatives from her firm, the two artistes, the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and the board of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
A scuffle between the award-winning musicians on Sunday dawn nearly marred the 20th edition of the awards.
After Stonebwoy was named as Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, Shatta Wale and his entourage attempted without success mounting the stage.
But while the security detail resisted the move by Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy pulled out a gun said to have been given to him on-stage by one of his bodyguards.
The two are standing trial for the incident and have been ordered to reappear before an Accra Magistrate Court on Thursday, June 20.
Mrs Ayoade said the VGMA is supposed to be a unifier for the industry and not a stage to express fanaticism by artistes.
She said her outfit does not hate the two artistes but want them to see the platform available as one to encourage healthy competition.
“The spirit of the VGMA is healthy competition,” she stressed.
This comes in the wake of sanctions slapped on the two artistes by the board of VGMA.
Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale were stripped of all the awards they won on the night.
They are expected to hand over the plaques to those awards “effective immediately”.
They have also been indefinitely banned from future awards.
This a member of the board, Francis Doku, said could be reviewed based on the behavior they put up going forward.
But, already, Shatta Wale says he will not be part of any future awards organised by Charterhouse Ghana.
Speaking on the news programme, Mr Doku, who is also the spokesperson of the VGMA board, said if reports about Shatta Wale is anything to go by, he will indeed not be part of future VGMAs.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana