Charles Charamba with his wife Olivia Charamba after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Jazz) at the Zimbabwe College of Music. (photo:M Chibaya).

Charles Charamba with his wife Olivia Charamba after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Jazz) at the Zimbabwe College of Music. (photo:M Chibaya).

National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (Nacz) says the criteria to choose the Best Female Musician won by Olivia Charamba (Mai Charamba) was not based on who had a recent hot album but considered the musician’s contribution on the showbiz circuit.

The Nacz held its 13th National Arts Merit Awards over the weekend in Bulawayo where Amai Charamba, Edith WeUtonga and Selmor Mtukudzi were all vying for the Outstanding Female Musician Award.

There were some among the guests who had questioned the criteria, suggesting Selmor was the favourite to land the award since she had released an album last year while Mai Charamba’s last album, The Gospel, was released in 2009. But Nacz assistant director Audrey Charamba said the Outstanding Female Award has nothing to do with recent albums but were based on recent performances.

“The 13th edition of Nama were based on last year’s works so despite the talk that Mai Charamba had released an album a couple of years ago, she was very active stage-wise last year.

“She performed in several areas including Kadoma, Gokwe and Manicaland among other places therefore we were looking on how well artistes conducted their work, the way they interacted with public as well as the manner in which they organised their concerts and this all leads to their visibility in the showbiz industry.”

Together with husband Charles, Amai Charamba also performed in the region and in several overseas countries. She was also active as a Traffic Ambassador and spent time raising funds for charities through shows.

The Nacz assistant director added that both Selmor and Edith Katiji aka WeUtonga who were competing with Mai Charamba on the Outstanding Female Musician category proved they were all equal to the task considering that they made it on the nomination list.

“Katiji and Selmor gave polished acts last year. Katiji staged memorable concerts while fund-raising for her child while Selmor and Katiji performed at joints such as Book Cafe among others,” she said.

Upon receiving the award Mai Charamba expressed surprise.

Selmor and Edith congratulated Mai Charamba on facebook.

Selmor said: “I didn’t get the award tonight, this just means I gotta work harder next time…congrats Mai Charamba!”

Katiji wrote: “Had a great time at the Nama awards…congrats to Mai Charamba for taking the award ahead of Selmor and I…”