Press Release: Ghana Music Awards UK Committee

The Ghana Music Awards UK Committee, hit back last night on allegations from MUSIGA (Musicians Union of Ghana).

The Committee of the Ghana Music Awards UK, lashed back on an article from MUSIGA stating that the awards ceremony was only being organised to ‘syndicate visa’s abroad’ Mr Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of MUSIGA also stated that MUSIGA is not part of the Ghana Music Awards UK and has no knowledge of any such event and if “any member participates in the event without MUSIGA’s expressed approval, does so at his or her own risk”.

Mr Eric McKaiser, CEO Easy Media Empire and founder of Ghana Music Awards UK lashed back at MUSIGA stating that the allegations were ludicrous and deplorable, as the organisation has never solicited in such acts.

Eric states “We at Ghana Music Awards UK are a professional organisation; we would not engage ourselves in such acts.

Our reputation is very important to us and we would not want to jeopardise that; further more there has been no such incident or case against us, and I believe if such incident had taken place, we as a registered company would not have been allowed to continue to organise the event for the past three years.

Eric also stated ‘Alhaji Sidiku Buari (President of MUSIGA) claims that he has no knowledge of the event, which is totally untrue as he attended and presented an award at the first Ghana Music Awards UK event in 2003, our organisation abides with the laws of the land, and no one is obliged to seek approval from MUSIGA if they want to be a part of this prestigious event.

The incident of the persons claiming to be musicians and absconding to Switzerland has nothing to do with our organisation or event, which leads us to say that all the allegations against us are ‘illogical’.

Community Bishop Frimpong Manso, (Founder and Head Bishop of Reconciliation Church and Chairman of Broadwater Farms Community, London and Member of the Committee of the Ghana Music Awards) states, “The Ghana Music Awards UK event’s aim is to ‘establish international recognition for Ghanaian Musicians’, the event has been running successfully for nearly three years and as a Committee Member it is my duty to ensure that the right strategies, practices, procedures and initiatives are implemented, measured and evaluated and I can sincerely confirm that we are doing just that; we do not and will not tolerate (or participate) in such unlawful acts; hence our reputation is important to us and to the Ghanaian community in the UK.

A Report on Ghana Music Awards UK 2004

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS...GHANA MUSIC AWARDS UK 2004

The Ghanaian community invaded London City on September 25th 2004. Thousands of people were in attendance for the Ghana music awards at the luxurious Ocean Arena in London city, organized by the Easy Media Empire group.

There was a mad rush to try and get in, and compounded by individuals who were trying to purchase tickets at the last minute. Making my way past the sea of humanity of Ghanaian fans, I finally settled on to cover the event.

So what did the GMAUK awards have in store for the millions of people watching across the world VIA tv? As it turned out, the event delivered the goods and a whole lot more... One of the early performers of the night was Obrafour.

A very impressive performance with his squard of dancers was followed minutes later by the best female artist of the year award. Alison Coleman, of Clair Essence, presented the award to the delighted artist. This was followed by the nominations for the best male artist, and Sway drew the most cheers from the audience. However, the award was won by K K Fosu.

Although he could not be there, K K Fosu had the audience in splits. Speaking of humor, there was no shortage of laughter in the next 5 minutes, when Kojo (BBC) announced the names of nominees in British acsent. Then it was time for the ‘Proud Star of Ghana’ award, in her absence, a rather stocky gentleman (presumably a producer for the album) walked up on stage and announced " Hello! I don't know Rhian very well, and I have nothing in common with her except my weight. I would like to thank THE ACADEMY (!!) or whoever gives these awards for this honor".

The enigmatic recipient sauntered off the stage before the hostess Sahvanna (OBE TV) had a chance to react, leaving the audience in an uproar of laughter. Rhian Benson won the award.

The hostess sparked the night further with some jokes - 'If stars had to be ministers, then Lumba would be the minister of science and technology, Lumba for external affairs and Kojo Antwi for defense, since his smile would make our enemies defenseless'. Jokes aside, it was at about 10.30 p.m. when the leader of the night emerged. Osibisa was the best performer of the GMAUK awards hands down, and it was wonderful watching them in action.

They started with the ever popular single ‘Welcome Home’. Endearing tracks from yester years helped them to take control of proceedings for a good 45 minutes. Amongst big names like Ben Brako, Charles Amoah, Tic Tac and Obour did very well to secure their best performance, which was followed by an award for ‘best colaboration of the year' and the best dance video of the year.

It was no surprise that Tic Tac had to come back on stage to receive the best dance video award, which was presented by Vivian of OBE TV.

The night was injected with an international flavor when Pac of 3 and Sway, came on stage to receive the international Acts of the year award. Music engineer of the year went to J Q, Obrafour won the album of the award and Osibisa won the Life Time Achievement of the year award.

eddy Osei elicited pin drop silence when he started his awarded acceptance speech, which was straight from the heart. He thanked his late band's man (Kiki Gjan) for his love, for his name and his voice. This touching moment was followed by a rendition of some of thier classic tunes.

Giles Bossman came with a bang with the announcement of the song of the year. The award was won by ‘Obour' from Konkotibaa.

Akwaaba received the best music promoter award and both these awards were handed over by H. E.. Baah Duodu, Deputy Ghana High Commissioner UK. It was past 12.30 p.m. by now, and Sohnti from South Africa exploded onto the stage. The singer-songwriter had a voice powerful enough to rip through the air and touch your heart.

The delighted audience was in for a treat with the ‘Lady of Hearts'. By the time she was finished, we could only wonder "Does this get any better?" It sure did! A series of fast paced songs from Tic Tac (looking great in white) whipped the audience into a bigger frenzy. He went on to win the best Artist award.

Obour won the next award for the single of the year. It was close to 2am when the most highlighted singer of the event, Obour stepped on to the stage. Obour’s performance was yet another example of his silken voice.

His ‘Konkotibaa’ was accompanied by an impromptu performance from Street Wise, who came up with an innovative series of dance moves to go with our distinctive adowa music. This was a good way to wrap the night; a fusion of Africa and London.

The last award of the day (Any guesses?). It was appropriately presented by Mr. Eric McKaiser, the CEO of the Easy Media? group to none other than Obour.

All in all, it was a spectacular affair and hats off to the management for organizing an event of this magnitude with a great degree of success.


www.ghanamusicaward.co.uk