Organisers of Mpoto Awards said Tuesday that despite not having enough resources on their shelf, they were resolute to continue holding the red carpet event in order to reward different players including artists.
The event, which debuted last year, returns for its second edition set to be held on Friday at Grand Palace Hotel in Mzuzu.
Mpoto Awards, formerly known as Mzuzu Music Awards, will reward players in excellence in music, creative writing and poetry, visual arts and design, innovation and entrepreneurship and sports achievement.
Veteran musician Billy Kaunda, who is also a legislator, is expected to be decorated with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event that will be spiced up by performances from Nthondwa, Praise Umali, Pop Young, Diego, Emmie Deebo, Susped, Wellie 265, Chikanda Jr and Rabecca Mwafulirwa.
One of the members of the organising team, Burnet Mulungu, said Mpoto Awards is a premier recognition platform in the Northern Region, celebrating excellence and achievement across diverse fields such as arts, entrepreneurship and community development.
“This event serves as a stage where remarkable talents and initiatives are celebrated, inspiring others to pursue excellence and contribute to regional growth. Mpoto Awards is not just an awards ceremony but rather it is a symbol of unity, recognition and the collective spirit of progress in the Northern Region,” Mulungu said.
He said they received an overwhelming response last year despite the numbers being low.
“We intend to be having these awards each year so as to continue inspiring the community,” Mulungu said.
He said they have a selection criterion which they use, adding that the process is in three phases.
“We have nominations, voting and then award ceremony. We open up for nominations (people cast their votes to submit their preferred nominees) and then the nominees are voted for. Voting is done using Google forms,” Mulungu said.
Some of the nominees in the music category include Pop Young, Merchah, Rabecca Mwafulirwa, Metalz, Chawa Beats, Nator 21, Munie whereas poetry has names such as Alick Harawa and Yona Mlakatuli Gondwe whereas sports has Chitipa United, Nkhandwe Basketball Club, Priscilla Soko and Macdonald Harawa.
The entrepreneurship list has names such as Lonely Mwandira and Patrick Kuyokwa.
Nthondwa Tuesday hailed the organisers for creating such a platform to motivate artists as well as other players.
“I am looking forward to being part of this event. We need these platforms because they help in motivating us but also keeping us in check,” the creator of songs such as ‘Natondeka’ and ‘Nkhwiza’ said.
