Zima to honour musicians in Covid-19 frontline

Society Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Music Awards (Zima) will in this year’s edition honour an artiste(s) who produced the best Covid-19 awareness song.

Several musicians among them Albert Nyathi, Dereck Mpofu, Jah Signal, Sista Flame, Chief Shumba Hwenje, Nicholas Zacharia, Suluman Chimbetu, Simon Mutambi, Tatenda Pinjisi, among others, have either produced or featured in Covid-19 campaign tracks.

The global pandemic has claimed more than 900 lives in Zimbabwe while millions have succumbed across the globe.

“Of special interest is the buzz around the newly-introduced Covid-19 awareness song category and the response thereof. The adjudication process currently underway will culminate in the announcement of Zima 2021 nominees on Wednesday,” said Zima spokesperson, Benjamin Nyandoro.

Arts enthusiasts have hailed the move.

“Musicians have a lot of followers and it is much easier for them to spread Covid-19 messages to their fans. We need all hands-on deck to win this battle, thus we applaud Zima for deciding to honour artistes that are helping in the fight against Covid-19,” said Sheila Mubayiwa.

Meanwhile, the awards show, which will celebrate local music and Zimbabwean artistes in the diaspora has been moved from February 6 to February 20 in light of spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.

“We hope that by February 20, the environment will be more conducive to holding the awards ceremony while adhering to safe health practices, but if not, we will go virtual as we can’t postpone any further,” Nyandoro said.