BOMU fiasco is another eye-opener

| Tuesday November 3, 2009 00:00

One does not need to look any further than the fiasco of the weekend at the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) Awards. What was supposed to be the pinnacle event of the year to recognise the artists who have made a sterling contribution over the past 12 months turned into a circus of the season. No doubt, Botswana musicians have over the past years worked so hard to extend the musical frontiers, but they continue to get a raw deal from those entrusted to take care of their welfare.

At the BOMU awards, Botswana's musical export to Europe - Norway to be precise - Banjo Mosele was the toast of the night when his widely played  Ntswa E Jele Ntswanyana was crowned Song of the Year. No less than BOMU secretary general handed the award to Banjo's proxy - Malombo. Malombo and Banjo's fans must have celebrated that their song made it to the big league. But the celebrations were short-lived,  thanks to a goof by BOMU. About 24 hours later, BOMU president Socca Moruakgomo, was on national television saying they blundered and gave the award for the wrong number. He said Ntsa E Jele Ntsanyana was mistakenly crowned Song of the Year and the honour should have gone to 'Khudu' by Culture Spears. Moruakgomo stated that the award will be given to Culture Spears.Many will agree that these are two popular songs and either one of them could have won the award. But this is not the point. We have absolutely no qualms with adjudicators deciding which song wins the award. We, however, have every problem with the wrong announcement made on the night and this goes uncorrected for the rest of the live coverage of the awards only for those in charge to make an about-face almost 24 hours later.

The explanation given by Moruakgomo is lame and so pathetic that it does not wash. If this was indeed a mistake, it should have been corrected on the night of the show. We do not want to believe that BOMU can allow their secretary general to hand out the award and then claim that it was a mistake. If Moruakgomo and his BOMU team want to be taken seriously, then they ought to be decisive and deal with mistakes promptly other than to dither and allow wrong perceptions to hold sway. When the Moruakgomo team came on board, we thought it was a new broom that was meant to sweep clean and now this goof. This is a major smudge on their face. 

                                                              Today's Thought

                         I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.'

                                                             - Elvis Presley