‘Our awards are not a counter attack’

Langalakhe Mabena

AFTER successfully hosting a sold-out Roast of Sandra Ndebele last week in Bulawayo, Umahlekisa Entertainment believe they have fully matured and they can now have their own “personal” thing — the Umahlekisa Comedy Awards.

The awards — a first of their kind in Zimbabwe that celebrate creativity and diversity in the comedy sector — will be held on 24 October at Rainbow Hotel in Bulawayo.

The announcement of the new awards comes after the National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) snubbed comedians as they didn’t announce nominees for the Outstanding Comedy category despite receiving entries for possible nominations.

“On Outstanding Comedian, the common position agreed by adjudicators was that there was no submission that deserved recognition,” said Josiah Kusena, who is the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) acting director.

However, one of the founders of Umahlekisa Entertainment, Ntando Van Moyo, made it clear that the Umahlekisa Comedy Awards are not a counter-attack on the Namas’ snub, ahead of their upcoming edition slated for 24 February at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Center (ZIEC).

“The idea of the awards was always in the pipeline. We had planned them last year but resources were not allowing us to launch them. However, this year we have decided to put into action what was in the plan.

“These awards will accommodate everyone from Zimbabwe across the comedy industry, from stand-up comedians, skits, those who do music fusing with comedy like Skhosana Buhlungu and Madlela Skhobokhobo and everyone who is a Zimbabwean based abroad, as these are international awards.

“Agenda setting and the timing of the Nama snubbing us might seem as if these awards are created as a counter-attack on their actions. But I want to make it clear that we were going to have these awards with or without the Nama snub.

“We are engaging a couple of our all-weather friends to see if they can chip in and some have already agreed to sponsor the project and we believe more and more people will come on board,” said Van Moyo.

With all being said and done, comedians are bitter, and their anger can be sensed through Van Moyo’s comment.

“I feel like what the Namas did was unbecoming because even in football you will always get strikers with seven goals but at the end of the season they will be crowned as the ultimate top goal scorer.

“This all goes back to the issue at hand because comedians were holding events and people were laughing and being entertained at these events. So, we turn to wonder who were the judges used by the Namas to conclude that there are no funny comedians in Zimbabwe.

“Maybe they got angry that Q Dube made a joke about roll-on and body odour, maybe they don’t know Chik Aljoy, even Long John has left footprints on the international scene. MaForty toured Zimbabwe and is even the director of a KwaNtuthu Comedy Festival. And according to them, all these people are not funny.

“The Namas were misguided in making that poor decision and this is a blow and disrespect to the industry because honestly, there are people who are in the forefront and behind the scenes, who make sure that the country is entertained by these comedy gigs,” said Van Moyo.