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Ammara Brown

Showbiz Reporter
THE National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) held in Harare at the weekend are still trending for all the wrong reasons as those who followed the awards ceremony are ranting after judges decided that some categories had sub-standard works and were not worthy of winners while some artistes whom most felt deserved to win, left empty handed.

Among those whom people felt were robbed were the likes of Souljah Love and Ammara Brown who lost out to Jah Prayzah and Janet Manyowa respectively in the best male/outstanding song and female artiste categories.

Ammara, who undeniably had a good 2017 with the launch of her debut album that received a lot of airplay, said people needed to understand that the Namas were based on opinions and not facts, somehow discrediting the awards ceremony.

Responding to fans who came out in support of her, Ammara said she knew her worth  and would not let the Nama judges’ opinions misguide her.

“Yes, I’m hearing your cries. Many of you feel I was ‘robbed’ of awards, but let’s take a moment.

“The Namas are not based on facts, they’re based on opinions. A panel of anonymous judges observe your work and battle it out among themselves.

“My numbers don’t lie. Ammartia you have the biggest Zimbabwean fan base under any female by far,” posted Ammara on her social media pages.

She indirectly said she felt she deserved to win a Nama because she was a well-travelled artiste who had a debut album Ammartia which carries hit tracks, Mukoko, Akiliz and Watchu Want that did well, not only locally, but internationally.

“Ammartia reached number two on iTunes Charts in its first week. Akiliz has climbed Trace Africa Charts, it hit half a million views in six weeks.

“Don’t get me started on all the tours I did and to top it off your votes made it Song of The Year for 2017 on the Star FM charts. But, these are facts.

“The Namas aren’t based on facts, they’re based on opinions.”

But, in all this, Ammara said she understood that the awards were not a popularity contest before taking a dig at event organisers — the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe for nominating artistes and failing to name a winner in some categories.

“People’s Choice is the only category the public can vote for. In fact, I was grateful there was a winner because some categories weren’t even afforded.”

For Souljah Love, people felt his track, Pamamonya Ipapo, that received overwhelming airplay from March last year when it was released, deserved to win over Jah Prayzah’s Ndin’ndamubata that was released in October.

While acknowledging that Jah Prayzah worked hard last year, most felt Ndin’ndamubata did not deserve to be deemed song of the year as it only gained popularity in November together with the rest of the album — Kutonga Kwaro whose title track was used to celebrate the swearing in of new President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Instead, some suggested that Kutonga Kwaro was more popular than the winning track, further discrediting the Namas.