Fred Nuamah, the founder of the Ghana Movie Awards, has addressed concerns raised by some industry professionals regarding the plaques presented to winners during the 2025 edition of the awards.
The event, which took place on January 18, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre, faced criticism for poor organization. One of the main issues that emerged after the ceremony was the use of locally made fans (referred to as "papa" in Twi) as awards for some of the winners.
These fan-shaped plaques featured a wooden base with inscriptions and a painting of Ghana’s red, gold, and green colours, along with the black star.
In an interview with Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM's Showbiz A-Z, Fred Nuamah explained that the fans were part of the Ghana TV Series Awards, a separate event that was held alongside the Ghana Movie Awards. He clarified that while the Ghana Movie Awards used the trademark gold-plated plaques, the Ghana TV Series Awards used a different kind of award, which included the fan plaques.
"I know that it’s the Ghana Movie Awards and the Ghana TV Series Awards. We have the trademark for the gold-plated plaques in the Ghana Movie Awards. For the Ghana TV Series Awards, we don’t have the trademark, so we started with gold plaques but later tried something else, including the fans. Those who received the fans were from the Ghana TV Series Awards, not the Ghana Movie Awards. Although the two events were held together, the Ghana Movie Awards did not give out fans," he said.
Despite the backlash, Fred Nuamah expressed confidence that the artists behind the fan design had a valid reason for their choice.
"Typically, we get our plaques from places like China and India. So if my team decided to create something locally made, of course, I had to support it. Also, you can’t challenge artists; what they create might not always make sense to us. For example, Mona Lisa, that small painting, probably wouldn’t even cost $400, but it’s sold for billions of cedis. Artists can take anything and turn it into something highly valuable," he explained.
When asked if he was happy with the fan plaques, Fred Nuamah affirmed, "I was okay with it because it was made in Ghana. I was fine with it until people started complaining. I spoke to the team and told them that if people aren’t happy with it, that’s okay. Maybe they just wanted something gold."
However, he noted that, based on the feedback received, they would not use the fan plaques in future editions of the awards.
Fred Nuamah also admitted that the Ghana Movie Awards is facing financial challenges and hopes that increased support will help address many of the issues they are currently facing.
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