Bruce Ndlovu
After organisers of the KORA awards announced that the problem-riddled continental award ceremony had been shelved, Hope Masike says she is no longer encouraging fans to vote for her.
Masike was one of only two Zimbabweans that were nominated for the award ceremony, which originally was set to take place on 20 March.A� The other Zimbabwean nominee was Pah Chihera who was nominated in the Best Female Southern Africa category.
Organisers of the show however, dashed Masikea��s hope of bagging an award, after they announced on the eve of the ceremony that they were postponing the award ceremony indefinitely, citing red tape around the importation of security equipment of the show as the cause of the delay.
a�?Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have to date, not received the clearance to enable our supplier to move the structure and equipment into Namibia in time for a March 20th event date.a�?
a�?As we speak, we are still pursuing this crucial waiver. As such, we have had to take the difficult decision to postpone the KORA All-Africa Music Awards. As disappointed as we are by this development, we remain committed to delivering the event we promised the Namibian people,a�? the organisers, Mundial Telecom Sarl, said in a statement.
Masike said for her part said she had stopped her campaign for fans to vote for her.
a�?On my part I have told the fans to stop campaigning or voting for me because the situation as it stands now is not very encouraging. Ita��s not really responsible as an artiste to continue encouraging fans to vote when the awards have been postponed indefinitely,a�? she said.
Masike added that she had not received any official information from the organisers.
a�?We were just told that the ceremony had been cancelled to a later date. There was no further information and we are as in the dark as everyone else,a�? she said.
