The Telecel Ghana Music Awards Board has addressed the controversy surrounding King Paluta's song "Makoma" not receiving a nomination this year.

In a statement released by Charterhouse's Head of Communications and Public Events, Robert Klah, the Board denied allegations that the song's alleged profanity was the reason for its exclusion, suggesting a different explanation.

According to the organisers, “each artiste can have only one song per category, except for Best Collaboration, Best International Collaboration and Best Music Video.”

The statement also asserts that, “This rule prevents vote-splitting and ensures that artists have the most substantial chance of winning. (Read also: A dive into TGMA 26 nominations, DopeNation did not file for 2025 TGMA – Robert Kla, PRO of Charterhouse, TGMA26 ‘Big 5’ nominees: Hits and misses)

Using King Paluta's "Aseda" and "Makoma" as an example, we applied this rule to select the most popular song. Based on our research, including streaming numbers and airplay from 175 radio stations, "Aseda" was adjudged the more popular choice in both Highlife and Most Popular Song of the Year categories," part of the statement reads. 

The Board also clarified its current rule, which allows only one nomination per artist per category, although this rule has been relaxed in some previous years.

 This policy is not new, as a similar rule was introduced in 2016. At that time, Bisa Kdei had two hit songs, "Mansa" and "Brother Brother," but only "Mansa" was nominated. 

Contrary to speculation that "Brother Brother" was excluded due to explicit content, it was actually Bisa Kdei who chose to submit "Mansa" after being informed that only one song per artist could be nominated per category.

The Board had previously deviated from this rule in subsequent years, but it appears to have reinstated the one-artist-one-song policy this year with the exclusion of King Paluta’s Makoma.

See press statement below: