SWAMA PRESIDENT AWARD NAMED AFTER TEMPLE

MBABANE - Honouring legends! This is what the annual MTN SWAMA Awards has done by renaming the ‘The President’s Special Recognition Award’ to ‘The Mkhanyakudze Recognition Award’ in special honour of the late Senator Mike Temple. Temple’s kubutseka name was Mkhanyakudze.

SWAMA is the acronym for Swaziland Arts and Music Association.
Temple, who passed away this year, was a passionate and huge contributor towards the development of the arts industry in the kingdom.

It is worth noting that this special award is not voted for by the public. It is a special recognition award and it is awarded by the sitting president of SWAMA to an individual who is not a practising musician but has contributed immensely towards the development and recognition of music as an art form in Eswatini and beyond our borders.

Last year, this award was introduced and the one and only recipient of this honour was Metro FM Radio icon Wilson B. Nkosi. The name change was confirmed by SWAMA President Melusi ‘Zox’ Dlamini, who said they were honoured to have had Temple guiding them.
The Eswatini entertainment fraternity was blessed to have had Temple as he always offered his assistance.

Temple worked with Eswatini artists, especially after he was inaugurated as the chairperson of the internationally renowned MTN BUSHFIRE festival.
His last appearance in the arts was during this year’s After-Burn at House on Fire in Malkerns, where he encouraged the festival to engage local media.
Also, he endorsed the new KITSI MUSIC launch which and its new initiative titled Green Lifestyle Festival.

KITSI MUSIC is a booking company where musician Sands Matsebula is the CEO.
The MTN SWAMA Awards Yellow Carpet ceremony will be held on December 7, 2019 at Royal Swazi Spa Convention Centre. This year’s MTN SWAMA Awards takes an innovative direction with its focus on ‘Monetize Your Music’. 

This announcement was made across digital platforms, giving viewership access to the whole country and beyond.
“We have something very exciting lined up for the main event and we encourage the public to continue voting in numbers,” said the SWAMA president.
To maintain fairness, transparency, accountability and a prestigious celebration of local arts industry, MTN SWAMA has re-engaged auditing firm KPMG for the 2019 edition of the MTN SWAMA Awards.

Nominees

There are two other categories with no nominees this year and they are ‘Most Downloaded Caller-Tune’ which will not be voted for by the public, but shall be adjudicated based on the number which his/her music has been downloaded as a caller tune and the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, a special award which will also not be voted for by the public, but will be awarded to a musician who has contributed immensely to the growth of the music industry in the Kingdom of Eswatini since its Independence in  1968.

Dlamini revealed that public voting has surpassed the 20 000 mark.
“One month is still left for voting and the public is encouraged to vote for their favourite artists to ensure they win the award in their selected category,” said Dlamini.

 

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