2016 VGMAs voting results manipulated?

After Charterhouse published the 2016 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) voting results, some people questioned its authenticity.

Although the move by organisers was historic, a section of the public has argued that no one will shoot himself in the foot by releasing results which will be different from list of winners announced on the night of the event.

One other issue raised was why organisers decided to release the voting results three weeks after the event and not right after the event if indeed the results are a true reflection.

All these concerns and more are the basis for the argument that the results might have been manipulated.

But Public Relations Officer of Charterhouse, organisers of the event, George Quaye, has stated that event statistician, KPMG is available if anyone wants to verify the authenticity of the results.

“If you want to verify, we’ve always made it clear. KPMG is there, they can show you how the voting went. What is out is the combination of public, board and academy votes… I’m sure KPMG will show you the statistics and how the voting went,” he told Abrantepa on Radio Univers’ mid-morning show, Brunch2Lunch, Monday.

Many pundits and music fans had stood on the issue of transparency to demand that organizers publish the results for accumulated votes. Charterhouse, on the other hand, argued that the results for the categories will not be made public as it goes with international best practice.

Asked why the U-turn, George Quaye intimated that the decision was taken after further deliberations. According to him, it was informed by the ‘cry of the public’.

“Over the years, we’ve said that the VGMAs is a listening award scheme. So it’s not really about the organisers and what they hold dear but what they believe in. who knows, other international schemes may see ours and consider it as international best practise and follow suit. It’s just to the hue and cry of the public,” he stated.

The VGMAs voting results released on May 29, showed that EL who was adjudged Artiste of the Year, had 36.26% while Bisa Kdei obtained 30.54%. Stonebwoy and Sarkodie managed 23.38% and 7.67% respectively. SP Kofi Sarpong placed fifth with 1.10% while VVIP secured 1.05%.