2015 Most Influential Young Ghanaian list credible – Organisers

Organizers of the 2015 Most Influential Young Ghanaian have defended the list announced early this year.

The year started with the release of the 2015 Most Influential Young Ghanaian list, a list which named 50 young Ghanaian’s who have influenced Ghana with their works from all walks of life.

After the release of the list, many have doubted its credibility, questioning why the likes of actress Yvonne Nelson, rapper Sarkodie and dancehall artistes Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale did not make it onto the list after their immense contributions to their various sectors in 2015.

Five Ghanaian entertainers who were named in the list were Actor John Dumelo, singer Rebecca Acheampong popularly known as Becca, Movie Producer, Shirley Frimpong Manso, Tv personality, Peace Hyde and actress Juliet Ibrahim.

Reacting to the controversy, Prince Akpah, Managing Director of Advance Media, the outfit that compiled the list, said only individuals who have made an impact in the country within the last two years qualified to be part of the list.

“We did not select people because they achieved a lot of things within 2015, this is an activity based on research not social media, and we measured the impact reach of everybody for the last two years in active service.”

Actress Yvonne Nelson started the #dumsormuststop campaign on social media and continued with vigil which saw hundreds of Ghanaians in attendance in Accra on May 16, 2015.

She achieved that with the support of some of her colleagues to protest the dumsor crisis, a term used to describe persistent, irregular and unpredictable power supply.

Stonebwoy was adjudged the 2015 Black Entertainment Television Awards (BET) Awards Best International Act: Africa, he also won three awards - Artiste of the Year, Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year and Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards.

Shatta Wale, known in real life as Charles Nii Armah Jnr, has also been very consistent with his music, releasing about 95 songs during this year.

Prince Akpah acknowledged that many people have done remarkable stuff but not everyone can make it to the list because it is limited to only 50 people across Ghana. “Everybody has done amazing things in 2015 and this is a list exclusive to only 50 people across Ghana.”

He continued that, the fact that the works of other people do not come to the public domain does not make a whole ranking of 50 most influential people invalid.

Other notable personalities in the list include investigative journalist and CEO of Tiger Eye PI, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Black Stars skipper Asamoah Gyan and two of Multimedia’s finest journalists Gary Al-smith and Manasseh Azuri Awuni.

Public Votes accounted for 80% of the total votes, whilst an Impact Assess Research conducted by the Agape Research Center made the remaining 20% of the final rankings.