The country’s sole Public broadcaster, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) has announced that the the flagship annual Entertainers of the Year Awards are back bigger, better and with a bang.
Making the pronouncement Wednesday in Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre at Hotel Victoria, after the organising committee held a review of the 2024 edition, MBC Director General George Kasakula disclosed they have addressed the issues they faced in the last edition.
Said Kasakula: “The MBC Entertainers Awards belong to the Malawian public. We are just conduits through which these accolades are held. The media landscape has changed and it cannot be monopolised by one entity.
“Again, we also need to follow international trends because we cannot operate as an island. We need to have a model where we can derive direction from,” added Kasakula, a seasoned journalist and former boss of Times Group.
Issues on the agenda included misalignment of nominations, lack of participation by nominated artists and laying down mechanisms to increase the public and artists’ trust and interest in the awards.
MBC has this year incorporated in the organising committee representatives of various sectors such as media, film, music and art.
Organisers say the move seeks to draw input from the different sector players to ensure credibility and transparency in the awards process.
On his part, filmmaker Charles Shemu Joyah commended MBC for establishing a committee of people from different sectors.
He said: “People have been complaining about nominations in wrong categories and some works done years ago being voted for and that brought criticism. That contributed to loss of confidence in the arrangement.
“This one will help to bring back the awards to the people. It is something of national interest which needs to be maintained.”
“The MBC Entertainers Awards belong to the Malawian public.”
George Kasakula
MBC Director General
