Ghanaian hip-life sensation Thomas Adjei Wireko, known by fans as King Paluta, has petitioned the Ghana Music Awards (GMA) board after his hit track "Makoma" was not nominated for the 26th edition of the GMA awards.

The rapper's management, in a formal letter dated March 18, 2025, has formally requested an explanation for what they deem a glaring oversight.

King Paluta, in his petition, says despite submitting "Makoma" for four major categories—Most Popular Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Hiplife Song of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year—the song received zero nominations.

"We humbly write to your honourable board to demand some explanations in connection with the snub of ‘Makoma’ by King Paluta — a song we duly submitted for consideration, which we believe remains Ghana’s most popular song released in the year under review, generating the most excitement among music lovers to date," the letter stated.

"Makoma," released in July 2024, has been popular on music platforms, boasting over 3 million streams on Spotify and a consistent average of 174,000 monthly listeners.

Paluta's team argues that the song's popularity makes its omission inexplicable.

While acknowledging the TGMA board's competence, Paluta's management is calling for ‘‘transparency in the nomination process."

“We believe in the competence of the TGMA board and trust that a convincing reason will be issued to our team, music enthusiasts, and the general public regarding this unpopular decision of the board,” the letter continued.

Ghana Music Award has not commented publicly on Paluta’s specific case. However, it said in a post on X that its ‘‘window is open’’ for any complaints, urging aggrieved individuals and groups to register their ‘‘concerns’’ over the nomination process by March 23, 2025.

The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on May 3, 2025.