The Pearl of Africa Music Awards (PAM) nominees were just announced this week and the list was greeted with questions and boos as artists cried foul.
The PAM are the biggest annual national music awards in Uganda, that were first held in 2003 and since 2006 there has also been categories for musicians from other East African countries. I have always insisted that there is no way to really tell how transparent all this award shows are since everything they do from choosing the nominees and category winners is shunned in secrecy and everybody knows so well that in Africa, people associate secrecy with shady dealings. The controversy is really so huge that various artistes including Jose Chameleone no longer even value the awards and actually also asked never to be nominated again.
The nominees for the song of the year are
Bebe Cool – Kasepiki
Samalie Namatovu – Omukwano Gunyuma
Jose Chameleone – Basiima Ogenze
Dr. Hilderman – Amelia
If you really follow Ugandan music like I do you should know that the biggest record in Uganda hands down was “Stamina” by Kenzo. The “Stamina” star Eddie Kenzo and his Big Talent Crew have also decided to pull out of the Pearl of Africa Music Awards, since according to them they should have been nominated for the “song of the year” category. I will also post Kenzo’s “Stamina” song for people to decide for themselves.
Bebe Cool – Kasepiki
Samalie Namatovu – Omukwano Gunyuma
Jose Chameleone – Basiima Ogenze
Kenzo -Stamina
