BOMU awards tender raises eyebrows
Grumblings in the background as Total Music Group exclusively organises, markets coordinates and manages the music awards for five years
Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) members have condemned their union’s decision to appoint Total Music Group (Pty) Ltd as the BOMU Music Awards Consulting Firm. BOMU announced on Wednesday through a statement from Secretary General, Rasina Winfred Rasina that they have appointed Total Music Group owned by Seabelo Modibe for the awards.
According to the statement, Total Music Group is to organise, market, coordinate and manage the music awards for a period of five years. Now members are disappointed about the decision and have labelled it as a personal appointment. Rasina stated that BOMU have resolved to partner with Total Music Group not only because the team at Total Music Group has its creative industry commerce, but more importantly because it has delivered beyond measure both commercially and community projects in the creative Industry, in a career spanning 21 years.
“To appoint a company under his name and dress it nicely with non-existent accolades is rather disappointing,” one member said. Other members said they were shocked because the company was new and had been established last year just for the sole purpose of winning this bid. While the current committee was voted into office less than a year ago, the members feel that already they were showing actions of maladministration and corruption.
“Modibe possesses undoubtedly a wide network of reliable and worthy track record of contacts in Botswana, Africa and across the globe. These are rare and exclusive attributes, which are exactly precise of, and are within what our members and indeed, the collective, as the Botswana Musicians Union and this beloved nation, desperately need. It is our duty, mandate and obligation core, to advance the agenda of the growing Botswana Creative Industry, especially our musicians’ careers beyond where they currently view themselves and beyond,” further read the statement from BOMU.
BOMU said it took the decision to engage Modibe from a pure level of the Creative Industry Community Development stage process; which so often is lacking where they are as a nation often in need of the most attention, yet in neglects to attain its ultimate commerce.
While members have made it known that they have no issue with Modibe in particular or his credentials, the latter told Arts & Culture in an interview that he did not just walk into the awards but was approached by BOMU. “That was late last year around November and I clearly told them that I have reached a stage where I cannot consult for free.
I initially hesitated but after veterans convinced me I told them I would do this on a condition that they step aside and let me do everything,” he said. Modibe said these awards had issues from the past because there is currently no money and amongst his top priorities when BOMU asked him to step in was to look for sponsors and bring in money. “They came to me because I am a big name in the music industry. I built a name for myself after all these years and I am revered internationally. In Botswana I am one of the few people who can think when it comes to commercialisation of music, this is a skill and my record speaks for itself,” he said. He further said as for the people who say his company was formed just in time to get the tender, Modibe stated that Total Music has always been there for years but it was only last year when he added the name ‘Group’ to it because he wanted to include a record label and music consulting. “I was not being favoured, I am the best in the game,” he boasted.
Although their members were of the view that BOMU deal with Modibe’s Total Music Group was unscrupulous and fraudulent, BOMU president Phemelo ‘Fresh Les’ Lesokwane was unbending in an interview with Arts & Culture, quipping that the union did nothing wrong.
Lesokwane further said that as a non-profit making organisation, they could not float a tender because they have no money to pay service providers.
“What we did is that, after being voted into office, we found out that the organisation was in debts. Then we said what we can do to take BOMU out of these debts and ensure that there are funds to run the office and so on. We have been planning for the awards, and decided to approach Modibe under Lekoko Entertainment, a company that has been there in the music industry for many years with the late HHP. Modibe told us he can’t use Lekoko Entertainment because the other partner is late, so hence why he wants to use Total Music Group, his company for organising these awards,” explained Lesokwane.
He said Total Music Group was hand-picked because of Modibe’s experience in the music industry. “Rre Seabelo was engaged as a consultant to organise, market, coordinate and manage the awards because of his experience. We want him to make money for the union through his company. As I said, we could not issue expression of tender because the union has no money hence we engaged Total Music Group,” he added. According to Lesokwane, the Total Music Group will get 20% of the gross profit made through this deal while the remaining 80% will go to BOMU.