BOMU goes to the polls in February

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Tuesday January 15, 2008 00:00

 

At a meeting last year, Taolo Moshaga came up with a motion that the elections should be postponed to help the executive prepare for awards. 
He said new officials would have problems negotiating with companies that the old committee had approached.

Some musicians were unhappy with the way the awards were conducted.  Complaints were that there was cheating because some of the winners did not deserve to win.
Because of widespread discontentment, the disgruntled musicians were discussing an alternative organisation.  However, the idea seems to have been abandoned ahead of the BOMU elections.

The current executive committee was selected during BOMU's inception, four years ago. 
Although the BOMU executive has come under heavy criticism, its secretary general, Nkgopoleng Tlhomelang, said 'we are proud of our achievements.  We have networked with so many organisations, both locally and internationally. Even as far as the United States. We have worked with organisations that deal with intellectual property.  Some of these organisations sponsored our workshops,' he said.
Tlhomelang mentioned the music awards and the BOMU secretariat as some of their major achievements. 

He said through their efforts, government now recognises music. 'Every Motswana should be proud of the commitment that we have shown,' said the BOMU official. 
He said local music has also gained recognition.  He added that Batswana support the industry. 

Tlhomelang said even the sales of albums of local artistes has gone up.  This, he said, also applies to attendance of shows.
In a bid to control piracy, the BOMU official said they will introduce holograms to be attached to albums.

Tlhomelang said BOMU has submitted articles of association to the registrar of companies for the registration of a collection society, which will operate as a company.
'We have also submitted an annual plan for the establishment of a collection society and stated when it would commence.  We are now waiting for registration with the registrar of companies.

'We are hoping that by April l, all the logistics will be in place.  It is going to be a huge project which will involve electing board members who will employ staff'.
Tlhomelang said they would also lobby government for support to establish the collection society, adding that they need a huge budget.

Regarding the controversy over the awards, the BOMU official said of course not everybody would be happy with a project of that magnitude. 'Obviously there would be winners and losers. There were only 29 positions out of 120 nominees.  The entries made were about 230'.

However, the BOMU official suggested that there should be a mechanism for handling grievances. 'We need to improve on that. Most of us are not groomed to accept a loss and even respond to people who are complaining.  I feel there should be motivational workshops'.

'We were all in comfort zones.  Some of the artistes didn't anticipate the looming competition.  I think what happened last year was a wake up call for the executive committee and the artistes themselves,' he said.

'When there is competition, people should accept that everyone wants to win.  When there is a grievance, we need to address it on time.  We are fortunate that after the awards, we hold an evaluation exercise.  But I think it was a learning curve'.
Despite the controversy, Tlhomelang described the BOMU awards as a huge success.
He feels that the awards would also help to market local artistes, even in countries like South Africa.

As much as BOMU has made achievements there were also some challenges that the organisation faced. 
One of the challenges that Tlhomelang highlighted was the burning issue of copyright.  He said artistes would like to see the copyright law implemented.

There is also the issue of finance. The BOMU official said the secretariat is being run with an annual P50, 000 subsidy from the Department of Youth and Culture. 
'You can imagine what it means to run an office with P50, 000.  You have to pay staff and also take care of the bills. It was a challenge to us to think outside the box,' he said.

Tlhomelang also mentioned the issue of airplay on local radio stations, pointing out that artistes protest that they are not fairly covered.  He said those who are mostly affected were from outside Gaborone. 
'They felt so much injustice has been done to them.  When we tried to negotiate with the radio stations, they felt we were interfering with their duties.  They felt we wanted to control them,' Tlhomelang revealed.

He indicated that most local radio stations have no airplay policy. 
He said they do not have a list which shows musicians who have been given airplay.  He noted that DJs have assumed the prerogative of deciding which artistes should be given airplay.