Talent manager and entertainment pundit, Mr. Logic accused the police of being ‘biased’ when it became known that the outfit foiled an attempt to have Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy perform together at the 2023 Ghana DJ Awards event.
According to him, the decision by the police to prevent Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy from performing together does not make sense because the two artistes performed together earlier at an event organised by Asaase Radio.
He questioned why the police allowed Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy to perform together at a show hosted by Asaase Radio which he said is owned by political figure, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko but denied them of doing the same at the Ghana DJ Awards event.
Speaking on the United Showbiz programme and monitored by GhanaWeb, Mr. Logic criticized the police and called on them to clarify the issue going forward.
“It doesn’t make sense to me because if Asaase Radio were able to host both of them, is it because Asaase is owned by a political figure so they were able to manipulate the policy? We all know Asaase Radio is owned by Gabby [Otchere-Darko] and it is known in the news. So if the police are claiming Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy are not able to perform together how come they were hosted at Asaase Radio for the sound clash show?
"That was even more dangerous than what they were going to do at the Ghana DJ Awards. I think their discretion is correct but why are they being biased?” Mr. Logic quizzed.
“Why did you allow A and you can’t allow B? I am not telling them how they should do their work but if you allowed the sound clash between Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy on Asaase Radio then you must allow any other show. The bond was signed in 2019 and it happened afterwards,” he added.
It emerged that the Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare intervened to stop two of Ghana’s reigning dancehall artistes, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy from being booked together to perform at the Ghanan DJ Award.
The 11th edition of the Guinness Ghana DJ Awards scheme was held on Saturday, November 25, 2023, with only Shatta Wale performing as the headline act.
However, according to multiple reports and industry insider accounts, the decision to have only one of the two artistes headline the event was an option given to the organisers by the Ghana Police Service even though both acts were advertised.
This has been corroborated by Shatta Wale’s manager, Sammy Baah ‘Flex’.
“After the show, I got the opportunity to sit with Mercury Quaye who is the CEO of Ghana DJ Awards and I asked him that, my DJ, DJ Wobete told me that team Stonebwoy would be coming so what happened? And what he told me is exactly what I am about to say, I have my worries about what he told me and that is why I am even talking about it…
“He said that it was an order from above, an order from above in the area of security and I am talking about the Ghana Police Service security I mean. It was an order from above that as an organiser he received a call from top authorities in Ghana Police Service telling him that he could not put Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale on a show without their approval here in Ghana and that if he wanted to do that, he should have consulted Ghana Police for advice, for security tips, for the ways around it before he could do that. Because of that, they gave him an option to choose one of the two artists,” he recounted.
According to Sammy Baah’s account, Mercury Quaye was threatened by the police with an arrest if he were to go ahead and book the two acts for the event without their approval.
Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy have over the years been involved in various incidents of friction, some of which have resulted in chaos.
Recently, the two were in the news again after it emerged that they have both booked the Accra Sports Stadium concurrently for events in December.
Shatta Wale eventually cancelled his event citing the inability of his team to set up with some two or three days in between their shows.
