Shatta Wale addresses VGMA 2019 clash

In a statement sent to local media by the artist's team, the reggae-dancehall act apologises to the event's organisers, its viewers and fans, saying the incident was caused by a misunderstanding.

"As planned and communicated to the organisers on the morning of the event, Shatta Wale was going to sit amongst his fans in the standard ticket section of the auditorium," the statement reads.

"Due to circumstances beyond the control of the team, Shatta Wale arrived at the venue after the event had started and had been announced as the winner of two categories (Reggae Dancehall Song of the year and Highlife Song of the year).

"This accounted for Shatta Wale’s inability to receive the awards he won himself. After the announcement of the winner of the Reggae Dancehall Musician of the year category, Shatta Wale decided to reposition to the VIP section to meet his father and a dignitary who had asked to see him. A member of his entourage then suggested to him to join Stonebwoy on stage to congratulate him on his win in the spirit of unity, as he had done at the 2015 4Syte Music Video awards.

"He agreed and asked his security team to lead him onto the stage only to be met with confrontation instigated by Blakk Cedi [Stonebwoy's manager]. We wish to state that Shatta Wale accepted a call from Charterhouse [the organisers] to join forces to make the 20th anniversary of the VGMA memorable and has over the period demonstrated his commitment to this course by performing at the VGMA Nominees Jam in Kumasi and VGMA Experience Concert at the Independence Square.

"Shatta Wale extensively campaigned for votes and promoted the anniversary celebration using his various social media platforms. It will be very illogical for him to deliberately act in a manner to ruin and mar the same event he has spent a lot of resources to promote and urged his fans to attend. Shatta Wale meant no harm and considers this incident as unfortunate."

Ghanaian media have been awash with reactions from the culture and entertainment space since the incident. One of the prominent figures to speak about the incident is the country's culture and tourism minister Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, who shouldered some of the blame. 

"There was a little failure on our part as the Ministry and the organisers," she said during a radio programme. "Prior to the event, we noticed some banter between the fans of the musicians on social media. It would have been better if they [Charterhouse] engaged them...Let’s all remain calm and control the damage so no one is hurt."