Gospel songbird, Ohemaa Mercy, who missed out on last Friday’s prestigious 9th MTN Ghana Music Awards has expressed her regret that she could not be present to personally receive the three trophies and the GH¢1000 that comprised her awards.

“It hurts me that I could not be present and I wish to plead with all my fans to forgive me”, Ohemaa Mercy told Kwasi Aboagye on last Saturday’s edition of Peace FM’s Entertainment Review programme.

“Sometimes we have to make some sacrifices for the future well-being of Ghana’s music industry and this was one of such times.

“I believe in what Charterhouse has been doing to promote Ghanaian music and I appreciate it but some things have to be put right to make their efforts complete,” Ohemaa Mercy said.

“I wish I was there to pick up the award and meet all my fans but unfortunately I could not make it.”

Asked whether she was willing to forgo the monetary aspect of the awards, Ohemaa Mercy laughed and said, “I trust that Charterhouse will have mercy upon us and give us the cash.”

Ohemaa Mercy’s ‘boycott’ of last Friday’s MTN Ghana Music Awards was on the advice of her producer, Big Ben who, together with other music producers belonging to the Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI), were protesting against unfair treatment by the organisers.

In a letter to Charterhouse, just hours before the awards event, GAPI President, John Mensah Sarpong stated that “We find it strange that inspite of the massive investment injected into the production of musical works by some of our members, this year’s nomination of the Record Label of the Year leaves much to be desired.

“We want to draw your attention to the fact that year after year, some of our members have to their credit several albums that are released which impact on the listening public.

“A lot of protest about your disregard for our Association has been treated with impunity by your organisation. There have been several instances where our involvement in the nomination processes has been minimal or ignored which is a big insult on our intelligence.

“We also want to state that until your organisation streamlines your programme and involve GAPI, the recognised record label association in the country in the nomination processes, none of our artistes should be nominated for any future awards.

Meanwhile, we are advising all artistes under contract to our members nominated for this year’s award to boycott the event.

Charterhouse sources have explained to Showbiz that the award of Record Label of the Year was decided upon by the Selection Committee of GMA.

The sources said that originally, three record labels were nominated for the award. Each of these three labels had produced one good artiste each and the committee found Mad Time, the label of Kwaw Kesse, to have been the most impactful of them all.