Entertainment promotion stable Chitoliro Productionz has announced the return of the Urban Music People (UMP) Awards, four years since the last edition was held.
In an interview yesterday, Chitoliro Productionz executive director Ken ‘Zizwa’ Limamwe said it is important to have awards in the industry for the promotion of music, arts, culture and the creative economy in general.
He clarified that the awards were never gone, but they were forced to take a break as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Limamwe said: “The awards were not gone, they were there only that they were on break, mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We tried to do it virtually, but we observed that these awards are better executed physically.
“Secondly, we were re-engineering delivering platform, Chitoliro Productionz, that is why we took a break.”
Meanwhile, the organisers have said the returning awards will take place in December, at an event dubbed ‘Chitoliro Productionz Weekend’. The venue of the awards will be announced in due course.
Limamwe said the awards will be more international and they will integrate them with other awards to lift them to another level.
He said: “The awards are for the industry and it takes the involvement of everyone for us to have the best event. The industry is in better shape than before. It will take the contribution of everyone to have a better experience of the awards.
“The improvement the industry has registered will help us deliver better awards. We will use the leverage for the UMP Festival as they are part of the ecosystem of the Chitoliro Productionz events. The momentum of the festival will charge the awards.”
The last edition of the UMP Awards took place in 2020 at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe. Some of the categories that will be awarded are music, film, media and sports.
Seasoned music producer and one-time UMP Award recipient Tapps Bandawe said the comeback of the award platform is a welcome development as such platforms enhance the spirit of competition in the industry.
“What is required is to establish the right parameters for giving out the awards. We also need to distinguish one award from the other. If someone has been outstanding it is only proper that they are awarded,” said Bandawe.
