Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Member of Parliament Fredrick Shitana has called on government, through Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, to broaden the scope and list of artists hired to perform at various national events.
Shitana, a renowned traditional Afro-pop and Shambo artist, recently raised concern in the National Assembly that a selected group of artists and bands have for years enjoyed preferential treatment at the expense of others when it comes to securing gigs at major State-funded festivities.
“Especially on Independence Day celebrations, it is always the same artists who are selected. It has been the same scenario for years now.
It is very discouraging to other equally-talented artists who are denied the opportunity to showcase their talents and earn a living from their art. Some of these bands have been performing at the country’s Independence Day celebrations and similar occasions since 1990. Up to now, they are still enjoying dominance over other artists,” he argued.
He called on Ngurare to see to it that a level playing field is created for all local artists when it comes to national events.
Shitana said the music and creative industry can only grow through inclusivity, diversity and unity.
“Honourable Ngurare, please let’s see to it that if a certain artist performs at this year’s events, then he or she must give an opportunity to others to be selected for other events,” he said.
Upon his ascendence to Parliament, Shitana promised that the days of artists being commercially oppressed and excluded from important mainstream national dialogues will be over.
He vowed to be their voice in the fight against exclusion.
Even before joining Parliament, he has for years been a fierce voice for artists in the fight against piracy, intellectual property rights and equal representation.
In 2017, he made the headlines when he was arrested for impersonating a police officer to track down and issue fines to shops that were selling pirated copies of his CDs.
Although the move landed him in hot water with the police, it opened serious conversations around the country’s almost non-existent policies and regulatory framework around anti-piracy mechanisms and intellectual property rights.
Shitana has over the years succeeded in getting various traders of pirated music convicted, especially those who were found selling his pirated music.
He has on several occasions joined forces with the police to assist with raids that led to arrests and seizures of pirated CDs and memory cards.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na