Entertainment business is among those sectors muted as the country lies in wait to learn of the outcome of the September 16 General Election.
During weekends and as month end approaches as is the case this weekend, entertainment events are laced across the country.
But the election appears to have dampened the entertainment mood as everyone is still playing a let’s-wait-and-see game”.
A look at some of the major entertainment venues indicate that owners are taking precautions by scaling down or outright temporal closure of the places to avert any possible unrest.
In an interview yesterday, Mikozi Network lead Bright ‘Excess’ Chiligo said the current currency that entertainment thrives on is attention and with the current shift in attention to election results, the development negatively impacts on art.
“New music cannot receive the usual attention; music shows will have few people attending unless artists adapt to making content that suits the election trends. However, the impact is just short-term. In the long run the impact won’t be significant,” he said.
Excess said with the prevailing uncertainty and without stability, people would rather priortise ensuring their safety first than chasing where the next entertainment event will take place.
He said: “Here in Malawi, entertainment is not considered as a basic need. Electing a leader is as good as choosing who will help them meet their basic needs. Stability is the foundation where entertainment thrives, minus that, nothing can work.”
Artist manager and social commentator Sam Chiwaka said during major national events such as elections, public attention and media coverage shifts to the political sphere. He said this shift can push entertainment news and events to the background, temporarily suppressing public interest and industry activity.
“During times of instability such as elections time, the industry can experience reduced activity due to market uncertainty, shifting consumer behavior and a crowded media space. Consumers generally devout their spending to more pressing services than entertainment,” he said.
One of the regular performing outfits, Black Missionaries Band has also taken a break this weekend.
The group’s manager Ras Ray Harawa said just like every citizen, the group has also decided to wait for the outcome of the election.
He said: “We are not performing. We want to see where we are heading to as a country.”
In a separate interview, Scalla’s Café operations manager Jayson Joshi said they do not have anything huge apart from their usual entertainment menu.
“During this time people prefer to stay home and follow developments as they unfold rather than shunting from one joint to the other. On Thursday (yesterday), we will have our usual Mingoli Band and on Sunday, our Freak Sunday. Nothing much,” he said.
