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NewsDay

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Shoko festival organisers fail to pay artistes

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ORGANISERS of the recently held fifth edition of Shoko Festival have come under fire from some of the performing artistes, amid reports they are yet to receive their dues.

ORGANISERS of the recently held fifth edition of Shoko Festival have come under fire from some of the performing artistes, amid reports they are yet to receive their dues.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

The artistes’ (names withheld) have opened a can of worms, accusing the festival organisers of flouting contractual agreements, as their signed contracts stated they will be paid after the festival.

“We are yet to be paid our money, with the organisers giving the international acts preferential treatment, while neglecting the locals, as the foreign acts were duly paid,” one of the artistes said.

Speaking to NewsDay the festival’s media liaison officer, Tafadzwa Sharaunga confirmed they are yet to make the payments, as they experienced some delays with their sponsors in transferring the grants.

“We are shocked that after speaking to the artistes about the issue and seeming to have agreed during our discussion, they decided to go to the press. We are committed to paying all the artistes, who participated at the festival it is only that the process has been delayed,” he said.

“Payments are being staggered, we apologise for this inconvenience, as it may take us a few weeks to get all artists paid up. The Festival will be in touch once payments are ready for collection.”

Samm-Farai-Monro

Sharaunga dismissed claims they gave international acts preferential treatment ahead of local acts.

“We respect our local artistes and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. The reason why we fully paid foreign acts was for them to be able to come since they demand full payment before coming,” he said.

Shoko Festival 2015, an initiative of Magamba Network – founded by Sam Farai Munro – is supported by the Embassy of Sweden, Danida, the European Union and Culture Fund as well as premium sponsors British Council and Free Press Unlimited.

This year’s edition of the festival was graced by regional and international guests from Kenya, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Brazil.