Gospel musician and Made-In-Ghana Ambassador, Emelia Arthur, has expressed displeasure at the shabby way she was handled at the Ghana National Gospel Music Awards (NGMAs) held on August 27, 2022 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The NGMA is organised by the Global Expert Recovery outfit to honour deserving Ghanaian gospel acts at home and abroad. Ms. Arthur gained nomination in the Gospel Songwriter of the Year category with her ‘Osoro Abue’ song. She was in contention with 10 other musicians.
According to Ms. Arthur, someone who claimed to be a representative of the organisers called her manager on the day of the event and requested them to wait at the State House to be conveyed to the Conference Centre for the red carpet segment of the programme.
“There was nobody at the State House when we got there, but we waited for a while only to move to the Conference Centre later to realise the awards ceremony had begun,” Ms. Arthur explained.
She said though she was not happy about that happening, there was a gross show of disrespect when her name was left out of the preview of nominees in the Gospel Songwriter of the Year category during the show.
“I told myself there could have been a technical hitch, but nobody has reached out to me or my manager, to explain why I was left out of the preview of nominees. I had spent time and resources to urge for votes and there I was, not even being mentioned as a contender for the award. It was so upsetting,” Ms. Arthur said.
Ms. Arthur has been part of the gospel music scene in Ghana since 2014 when she appeared with her debut eight-track ‘Kyere Me Kwan’ album.
She has combined music with her official Made-In-Ghana campaign, which took off in 2016.
Notable songs she has put out after her debut include ‘Sesa Wo Suban’, ‘Nyame Enndi Ye Abro’, ‘Too Loaded’ and ‘Osoro Abue’, which was recorded and mixed by Shadrack Yawson at Wavebox Studios in Accra.
She congratulated Quame Gyedu, who won in the Gospel Songwriter of the Year at the awards ceremony with his ‘Wahooden’ song. She also gave thumbs up to all other winners on the night.
“What matters to me most is that the gospel must continue to be preached in whichever way possible. Music is an important channel for reaching out with the gospel, and I think event organisers must have more regard for all musicians because they are the real backbone of their (event organisers) activities,” Ms. Arthur added.
By George Clifford Owusu