Following their May 18 brawl at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards stage for which Stonebwoy drew a gun, both Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale have appeared before the Agyebeng Court where they both pleaded not guilty to Offensive Conduct to Breaches of the Peace.
Stonebwoy also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of Display of a Weapon in a public place without permission. Both musicians have been granted bail of GHc50,000 each with one surety and cautioned to be of good behaviour until the determination of the case with the next court date set for June 20.
This comes after Shatta Wale and his crew made their way to the stage where Stonebwoy aided by his entourage was receiving the trophy for the Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year.
It is in the wake of the brawl that Ghanaian born Italian football player; Mario Balotelli has thrown his weight behind Stonebwoy born Livingstone Etse Satekla.
On his Instagram page, Balotelli submitted:
“I stand with Ghana’s Stonebwoy, he is a good artist, we play his songs when we training, he is a good artist and i support him defending himself..i would do the same even”-Balotelli
Balotelli is no stranger to controversy having played for Inter Milan, Manchester City, A.C. Milan, Liverpool, Nice and Olympique de Marseille and perhaps his backing of Stonebwoy’s action could serve as balm on his sore at this time.
On Stonebwoy’s page again, Balotelli wrote the fire emoji as a sign of support for him after he posted a video of a song he was featured on by Jamaican singer Chichinching, the ‘Nice’ player took to the comment section to express his support. The divide in support is not only in Ghana, as global folks have posted comments for both Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale on various social media platforms some even in video form.
Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy have been stripped of the awards they won on the night of the brawl. The VGMA board announced an indefinite ban for the two artistes at a press conference on Thursday, May 23, 2019, for their roles in the chaos that characterised the 20th edition of the award.
While Shatta Wale born Charles Nii Mensah Jnr. is to return his Highlife Song of the Year trophy for ‘My Level’ and Reggae Dancehall Song of the Year trophy for ‘Gringo’, Stonebwoy is to return the ‘Reggae Dancehall Artist of the Year’ trophy he picked as well as the ‘Best Collaboration of the Year’ trophy for ‘Kpoo Keke’ featuring Medikal, Kwesi Arthur, Darko Vibes & Kelvyn Boy.
Given that the two offending parties were each to pick the ‘Most Popular Song’ trophy and the ‘Artiste of the Year’ trophy, Charter House the organiser and the VGMA board have annulled these two ultimate awards.
By Michael Eli Dokosi/goldstreetbusiness.com
