Musicians Say Shows On

The country’s music heavyweights Black Missionaries, Soldier Lucius Banda and Skeffa Chimoto Tuesday maintained that they were not cancelling their shows which they have lined up this coming weekend.

The government in a letter dated May 26, 2020 addressed to Musicians Union of Malawi (Mum) cautioned musicians against resuming public performances due to Covid-19 pandemic.

But Tuesday Chileka reggae group which has already put up posters for its weekend gigs, said they were going ahead with the shows.

“We are going ahead without fail. For them it is business as usual but for us they are saying no why? Why should we keep on suffering? Politicians are all over holding rallies where they are attracting huge audiences? When they stop then we will also do the same,” Blacks lead vocalist, said Tuesday.

The group holds its first show at 24/7 Club in Chileka, Blantyre on Friday before invading Davido Lounge in Mangochi on Saturday with the last show at Village House in Blantyre on Sunday.

“For two months, we have obliged to the ban on public gatherings but now what they are doing is thinking about themselves only. Some of them have even been calling us to go to their rallies, this is not fair,” Anjiru said.

He admitted that as a reggae group they rely heavily on live shows to feed their families.

“I should also say that it’s not two months but five months because prior to the ban, we were already on holiday,” the Black’s band leader said.

Lucius and his Zembani Music Company also said they were going ahead with their shows on Friday at Culture Club in Salima and then Ngoms Park in Liwonde on Saturday.

“We are going ahead, our shows have not been cancelled and we will meet there,” Lucius said yesterday.

Skeffa, who is performing in Mchinji, Kasungu and Dwangwa also said his shows were on.

“Let them stop rallies too then we will also stay at home, for them its business as usual but for us life is hard,” the ‘Nabola Moyo’ star said.

Meanwhile Mum President Gloria Manong’a has indicated that they were going to have an interface with the government to bargain.

“We would like to thank the government for responding to the issues we presented through the press conference we held. There is some progress from their response hopefully we will get the support soon,” Manong’a said.

She said as a union, they will keep on fighting for its members to get the support through dialogue.

“We cannot copy what politicians are doing, we want to keep our integrity as a union,” Manong’a said.

On other artists going ahead with shows, Manong’a, said it was their wish.

“For us, we have not directed members to resume shows because if they meet the law, we will not be responsible,” she said.