Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture condemns VGMA incident

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has condemned the squabble that occurred during the 20th Edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) in Accra Sunday dawn.

Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, the Sector Minister, who was present at the event and witnessed the chaos, said it would engage Charterhouse, the Musicians Union of Ghana and industry players to find appropriate solutions to the matter within the shortest possible time.

A statement issued in Accra by the Ministry said it would also engage with stakeholders to streamline the processes to ensure the safety and security of the public during such events.

It said the Ministry had noted that the VGMA had, over its 20 years of existence, become a flagship event in the music industry and should not be dented by such incidents, especially at a time when the Government was committed to further developing the industry to take its rightful place in the Transformation Agenda.

The statement urged the creative arts fraternity and the media to remain calm and be circumspect in their commentary on the issue to prevent further escalation.

It congratulated the nominees and award winners for an otherwise apt celebration.

A night of celebration for both industry players and fans in the showbiz sector turned out to be a night of shame and regrets as the 20th Edition of the VGMA was marred by a misunderstanding between Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale.

Fans of the rival Dancehall artistes clashed on stage in a fistfight, forcing Stonebwoy to pull out a pistol in the process.

This caused pandemonium at the New Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre on Sunday dawn and subsequently halted the flow of the ceremony until calm was restored after about 30 minutes.