• Shoddily organised awards gala, missing trophies, late monetary compensation and corruption are the order of the day in local awards nowadays
• New organisers of local awards rake in millions from voters through USSD and online voting platforms
Any creative will tell you that sailing through their different industries has never been a walk in the park.
Countless Kenyan creatives have been working hard and tirelessly to push their different brands and products to even greater heights.
It goes without saying that most of them achieve great milestones while at it despite the many challenges facing them.
It is because of their resilience, hard work and wins that various entities come up with awards to appreciate the efforts made by creatives in their bid to grow the general entertainer industry.
The recent past has seen the emergence of various local Awards aimed at appreciating Kenyan talents and creatives.
While some are genuine and legit, many are scams cleverly crafted to give founders the golden opportunity to make money.
Gone are the days when artistes used to feel appreciated by being awarded in genuine awards such as Kisima Awards and Chaguo La Teeniez.
Then, everything used to be transparent, with organisers’ focus trained on the interests of various creatives otherwise known as awardees.
Organisers then did not really care about making a kill but just to purely give local creatives their flowers while they are still alive.
However, things have over the years taken a flip with more and more organisers coming up with awards with the sole purpose of making themselves some money.
Nowadays, most organisers come up with awards and cleverly use public figures to help them make money.
A nunber of organisers have been forcing nominees to promote their nominations through their social media platforms, promising them shares in earnings.
Their main focus has been to make as much money as possible through the USSD and online voting platforms where a single voter is expected to part with over KSh 100 to vote for a single nominee.
Cumulatively, this translates to hundreds of thousands, money which organisers varnish with into thin air.
Most organisers usually lock in countless sponsors who pour millions into the entire projects.
It is common sense that the money from sponsors is intended to ensure the success of different awards in terms of organisation, gifting and taking care of other logistic needs.
But, most awards organisers usually pocket a big chunk of the sponsorship money and serve Kenyans poorly organised awards galas.
That is not all, most new awards only feat nominees who are willing to bribe organisers in exchange for wins.
Others even award a string of their friends, leaving out deserving nominees who bagged most votes.
With all the confusion, most awards organisers have been watering down the quality of awards experienced about a decade ago.
Just recently, Kenyans were treated to a circus during the People’s Choice Awards gala where a lot of things went south.
The confusion at the People’s Choice Awards gale is a story on its own and for another day, and YEIYO.com will duly share an opinion piece over the same soon.
