THE National Arts Council of Zimbabwe(NACZ) has come under fire from artistes and fans who are requesting that they release their award winner’s selection criterion used for the just-ended National Merit Awards (Nama).
Entertainment reporters
Various artistes and Nama followers who spoke to NewsDay yesterday said there was need for NACZ to reveal how they came up with nominees as some of the award-winning songs and albums were released late last year.
Sungura musician Energy Mutodi, who was nominated for The Outstanding Video Award which he lost to Juntal’s Amai Bhoyi, lashed out at NACZ, accusing them of being corrupt and inconsistent.
“When I arrived at the venue, their deputy director asked me why I did not regularly visit their offices, which made me suspect an element of corruption within the organisation,” Mutodi said.
He then challenged them to publicise the selection criteria to the public.
“I think Nac has gone to the dogs because they are suspending professional issues for the sake of bread at their houses and to me, it has totally become a misguided organisation,” he fumed.
Sulumani Chimbetu’s album Syllabus, which was crowned the Outstanding Album, was released in November last year with Jah Prayzah’s album Ngwarira Kuparara being released in June. It has been the favourite of the fans since last year, but was not nominated at all.
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However, Jah Prayzah said he accepted the outcome and there was nothing he could do except take the results as they were.
Urban Groover Enock Guni, aka Nox, said he was happy about his nomination, but said he felt his song Ndinonyara deserved to win considering its reception by the fans.
“Personally, I am happy that at least I got nomination after 10 years, but most people feel Ndinonyara deserved an award and I think they are justified, considering how the song was well-received by all Zimbabweans across all ages,” Knox said.
When the song was played at the event during the nominations announcement, the whole auditorium went into a frenzy clapping, singing along and making an ecstatic applause for the hit.
Mathew Nhekairo, who claims to have followed Nama for years, said there was an injustice over the song and that Nama standards have been deteriorating every year.
“Though I am not an urban grooves fan, I feel there was injustice over that song because it has been doing well on the local and international scene and it was probably the most popular song in 2012,” he said.
ZiFM producer and musician Sani Makhalima could not help writing on his Facebook wall yesterday (Monday) questioning why the song did not make it, saying: “The Nama were a bit hmmmm . . . It’s strange that my boy Nox did not pick up a single award yet Ndinonyara dominated pretty much most of last year . . . What can you say?” Makhalima posted on Monday morning.
However, asked to comment on the selection criterion, NAC director Elvis Mari said he was in a meeting and promised to get back to this paper after thirty minutes.
Way after the thirty minutes, a message was sent to the reporter to send his email address so that NACZ would send via e-mail the selection criterion. By the time of going to print, Mari had not sent anything.
“There is no doubt there is an element of unfairness that is going on. This has demoralised artistes and many music lovers. This is just a sham,” an artiste who remained anonymous said.
“Who came up with that list of nominees? To say it is unfair is an understatement. There is an element of dishonesty in the whole selection process .”
