A night of celebration for both industry players and fans in the showbiz sector, turned out to be a night of shame and regrets as the 20th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA 2019), was marred by violence.

Fans of eternal rivals and Dancehall artistes Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy clashed on stage in a fistfight forcing Stonebwoy to pull out a pistol in the process.

This caused a pandemonium at the New Dome of the Accra International Conference Center (AICC), on Sunday dawn and subsequently halted the flow of the ceremony.

Calm was restored after over 30 minutes with the program continuing, but not in the same light as it started.

It all started when Stonebwoy mounted the stage to receive an award as the Reggae Artist of the Year.

Stonebwoy prior to receiving the award gestured with his five fingers (indicating he had won the award five times in a row) to his bitterest rival Shatta Wale who was nominated in the same category.

Subsequently, Shatta Wale unhappy with the announcement stormed the stage with his fans, but it was unclear what they were up to going on the stage.

Fans of Stonebwoy’s tried to prevent them from coming on the stage and that begun the fuss. It was a war-like situation with many in the auditorium running for cover.

The “Bawasaba” hitmaker later apologized for the incident after he received the Songwriter of the year award.

“I only had to act on natural instincts…I come in peace and I go in peace…by their deeds we have all seen them,” he said.

Meanwhile, two of the categories including the big one- ‘Artiste of the year’ was not announced due to the dissension that occurred.

Kwami Sefa Kayi, one of the MCs for the event, announced that the winners for those categories would be announced in a press conference at a later date.

Here are the winners for the night::

Traditional Artiste of the Year

Kwan Pa

Instrumentalist of the Year

Mr Okyere

Lifetime Achievement Award –

Dr Rev Mrs Mary Ghansah

Obuoba J.A. Adofo

Prof Kofi Abraham

Unsung Artiste of the Year

Kula

Gospel Song of the Year

Diana Hamilton for ‘Mo Ne Yo’

Highlife Song of the Year

Shatta Wale for ‘My Level’.

Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year

Shatta Wale for ‘Gringo’

Hiphop Song of the Year

Kwesi Arthur for ‘Anthem’

Hiplife Song of the Year

‘Obiaa Wone Master’ by Yaa Pono feat Stonebwoy

Afropop Song of the Year

‘Akwaaba’ by Guilty Beatz feat Mr Eazi, Pappy Kojo and Patapaa

Gospel Artiste of the year

Diana Hamilton

Highlife Artiste of the Year

Kuami Eugene

Hiplife/Hippop Artiste of the Year

Medikal

Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year

Stonebwoy

Video of the Year award

MzVee – Come and See My Moda feat Yemi Alade (Dir Xbills Ebenezer)

Best Collaboration of the Year

Stonebwoy – Kpoo Keke feat Medikal, Kwesi Arthur, Darko Vibes & Kelvyn Boy

Record of the Year

Akwaboah – Hye Me Bo

Songwriter of the Year

King Promise – CCTV

Producer of the Year

Kuami Eugene

Sound Engineer Of The Year

Francis Osei with Akwaboah’s ‘Hye Me Bo

Male Vocalist of the Year

KiDi – on ‘Thunder’

Female Vocalist of the Year

Efya

African Artiste of the Year

Burna Boy

Rapper of The Year

Medikal

Best African Collaboration

Akwaaba – Guilty Beatz Ft Mr Eazi, Pappy Kojo & Patapaa

Group of the Year

Bethel Revival Choir

New Artiste Of The Year

Wendy Shay

Album Of The Year

Rockstar – Kuami Eugene

Artiste of The Decade

Sarkodie

Source: GNA