KAMA struggling to secure sponsorship

By Rosalia David

THE long-anticipated Kavango Musical Awards (KAMA) scheduled to take place in October is struggling to secure enough sponsorship with only two months left before the ceremony takes place.

This was revealed by awards founder Isa Saidi in an interview with Confidente where he said that potential sponsors are now hesitant to come on board because they have been affected by the pandemic.

“The pandemic has affected everyone and we understand that and that is why many companies do not see the need to invest in the music industry during this difficult time.

They are very hesitant,” he said.

He further said that the awards’ committee is hard at work finding other means of income to make sure that the event eventually takes place as they have been planning it for years.

“We can’t give up now. Everyone was excited to be part of the first-ever KAMA and then Corona came into existence.

We have however applied for funding at the Arts Council and we can only hope for the best”.

Saidi went on to say that, this is the time companies should consider bailing out musicians as they have been affected badly to a point where they are unable to keep afloat.

“Artists are struggling to pay rent or just to survive because if there are no performances, there is no money coming in.

The Arts Council should also reach out to as many musicians as possible because we have people who still do not even know about the funds offered by the institution,” he said.

KAMA was launched for the second time on June 27 at the Rundu Auditorium with more than 10 musicians, including MGee, Zhondie, Chicano Family and Shediva, performing at the launch.

The official launch of the awards was split in two to encompass all music lovers in the area, with the first launch having taken place in Kavango West in March.

Recently, the KAMA committee held a marketing activation at New World Bar in Rundu to make their presence known to the general public.

“We are thankful to the owner of New World Bar for assisting us with activations.

It all went well, we can now just hope for the best going forward,” he said.

With the Covid-19 positive cases escalating on a daily basis, Saidi said even though they would want to stage the event in October as scheduled, they would have to be guided by the prevailing circumstances.

He said, “If the situation worsens we might move this project to 2021. In as much as we want to improve the livelihoods of our musicians over here as they have been sidelined for years now, we can’t take risks.”