The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of the controversial Ministers of State Excellence Honours, Prince Mackay, has pushed back against growing public criticism, insisting his organisation runs credible award schemes and is not a “fake” entity.

The defence comes amid mounting public scepticism over what many Ghanaians call “vanity awards” ceremonies that honour sitting ministers and public officials.

Social media users expressed scepticism, asking whether such awards truly evaluate governance delivery or serve more as ceremonial endorsements.

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The award honoured several government officials, including Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and Greater Accra Regional Minister Linda Ocloo.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews to counter the backlash on June 8, 2026, over the recent 6th edition of the awards, Mackay touted his company’s track record in the awards industry.

According to him, this is not the first time such an award scheme has been organised, insisting that they have been doing it for over 17 years.

"Well, as Big Events Ghana, we have been organising awards for the past 17 years and over in this country. And we have been behind a lot of award schemes in Ghana that everybody knows about. We are not an institution or a company that is in doubt or has been hiding from the public to organise any awards or a fake organisation,” he stressed.

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He continued by listing major awards his organisation has consistently organised: “We have been organising the RTP awards, the radio and television personality awards, the biggest media awards in this country for the past 15 years.

"...We have been organising the Impact Awards for quite some time now. We have also been organising the Africa Gospel Awards, which is the biggest gospel awards in Africa.

“And then also the ministers' awards that we are talking about. We have such a fleet of awards, and all of these awards are very credible schemes,” Mackay added.

Ghana's vanity awards mania: We have been organizing credible awards in Ghana for the past 17 years now - Prince Mackay, CEO, Ghana Ministers of State Excellence Honours.

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