We are staging this year’s awards- Chairperson of Interim Committee- Taolo Moshaga
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
A group of Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) ‘members’ have issued a press statement alerting the public and stakeholders that the 10th Annual BOMU Awards slated for 27th October 2018 have been postponed indefinitely. According to the statement BOMU artists, through their District Chapters which were established under article 10 and their membership powers as per article 8.3, resolved that this year’s music awards must be postponed as BOMU is a mess.
“Artists convened around the country and took a decision that the awards must be indefinitely postponed until the messy BOMU is cleaned so that peace can prevail. No one consulted us the membership even to date,” read the statement that also indicated that their decision to postpone the awards was made by District Chapter 7 and 8 at a meeting in Gaborone where BOMU has 10 district chapters.
Their argument for the postponement include that the current interim committee, which they did not endorse is fighting to go ahead with the awards. “ Why do they force to stage the awards when our house is not in order. The organization is in intensive Care Unit (ICU) with factions that need Moshaga’s attention not to be busy with a glitz and glamour event,” they said.
For his part the newly appointed Chairperson of the Interim Committee, Taolo Moshaga dismissed the members’ claims stating that they are in the planning stages of this year’s awards billed for November. “What those people did is unconstitutional, they do not run the office. The interim committee has the authority to decide. I am busy at work restructuring BOMU because we have been tasked to help with the constitutional amendments of the organisation. We also need to raise funds for the smooth running of this process. What is wrong with hosting the awards and raising funds?” Moshaga said, adding that the Ministry of Youth has already approved sponsorship funds for this year’s awards.
Furthermore, this year in August the Advisory and Arbitration Council under the Registrar of Societies dissolved the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) Executive Committee as its election at the 2017 AGM was not properly constituted as per article 8.4.1. The council ruled that an interim committee be set up chaired by Moshaga assisted by three members from the Respondent’s side and three from the Applicant side to facilitate for the next elections at a properly constituted AGM by the second week of July or second week of August 2019.
However, former president of BOMU, Pagson Ntsie who is also among members who signed the press statement argued that the interim committee was only tasked to facilitate preparations for the next elections to select the new executive committee and not the awards ceremony. In his response Moshaga said this year’s awards were already underway when they took over and they were continuing with the relationship that they had already established with stakeholders. “They wanted to continue with the awards when they formed the committee and it is now suddenly wrong to go ahead under the new interim committee? Does this mean there is a gain they don’t want to miss out on? I just need reports and statements of past transactions to look at so I am able to prepare a detailed report for the council,” Moshaga stated, adding that Ntsie and his committee had the chance to appeal to the judgment at the High Court within 30 days which elapsed with no complaint registered from the former committee.
According to an undisclosed source, postponing this year’s show was Ntsie and allies’ attempt to frustrate the new interim committee efforts . “It is just a bitter act because they feel like they lost power when they least expected it. You will be shocked to find out that all those ‘members’ who signed off the media statement were going to benefit from the awards either through performances or services rendered and they are fighting back,” the source alleged.