Veteran music producer Mark Okraku Mantey, a member of the board of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, which annually chooses award nominees and winners, has played down the controversy surrounding this year’s awards.

Speaking on Hitz Fm, Okraku Mantey noted that George Quaye is a talkative who talks too much, but more importantly, he does not speak for the VGMA board.

“Let’s face facts, he (George) is a talkative. He has a Masters in Communication, but sometimes, he gets carried away.” Okraku said.

He added that due to his role as Communications Director for Charterhouse, many mistake him as spokesperson for the awards scheme, but Mark argued that’s not the case.

“The impression is that he speaks for the VGMA, he does not speak for the VGMA Board. He speaks for Charterhouse,” Mark noted.

“Throughout, he is not the one supposed to communicate for the Board. In case he did, it was wrong.”

George Quaye and the VGMA awards has come under scrutiny after he claimed that gospel artists pay bribes to win awards. He has since apologised for his comments, but gospel artists are calling for him to name those taking the bribes, with some even suggesting they would return their past awards if that doesn’t happen.