The Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) Board has addressed concerns over the exclusion of King Paluta’s song Makoma from this year’s nominations.
In a statement issued by Charterhouse’s Head of Communications and Public Events, Robert Klah, the Board dismissed claims that the song was omitted due to alleged profanity. Instead, they pointed to an existing rule that limits each artist to only one song per category, except for Best Collaboration, Best International Collaboration, and Best Music Video.
“This rule prevents vote-splitting and ensures that artists have the strongest possible chance of winning,” the statement explained.
Using King Paluta as an example, the Board stated that both Aseda and Makoma were considered, but based on research—including streaming data and airplay from 175 radio stations—Aseda was deemed the more popular song. As a result, it was nominated in both the Highlife Song of the Year and Most Popular Song of the Year categories.
The Board also clarified that while this rule has been in place since 2016, there have been instances where it was relaxed in past years. They cited the case of Bisa Kdei, who had two major hits—Mansa and Brother Brother—in 2016 but could only submit one for nomination. Contrary to speculation, Brother Brother wasn’t excluded due to explicit content; rather, Bisa Kdei opted for Mansa after being informed of the one-song-per-category rule.
While the rule had been inconsistently applied in previous years, its strict enforcement this year led to Makoma’s exclusion from the TGMA26 nominations.
Statement below:
Story by Obaapa Janee/ahotoronline.com
