Blackouts ruin concerts in Mzuzu

Power failures marred Masudi Khonje’s live DVD recording session and Lucius Banda’s Airtel Money promotional show in Mzuzu at the weekend.

The recurrent electricity interruptions forced gospel singer Masudi’s concert into interludes of silence at Katoto Secondary School on Sunday afternoon.

Although it has become a cliché to bemoan blackouts during public entertainment shows, Masudi’s act was backed up by a lightweight generator which succumbed to the equipment’s demands.

The technical fault took the engineers three hours to fix while the bemused patrons screamed in anger and frustration.

It took off at 3.15pm with performances from Donnex Muva but stalled again 30 minutes later. Other curtain raisers included Princess Mwangata, Martha Kasambala, Patani Mkandawire, Violet Tengani and Thoko Katimba.

Masudi appeared on stage around 5pm and performed Dzuka M’bale, Alpha and Omega, Nthawi Yochepa, We Bless Your Name, Ndampeza and Amandidziwa while Sudi K Multimedia were busy filming the act.

Masudi estimated the cost of the motion picture project at K700 000.

In an interview, he apologised for the overpowered generator, saying: “Blackouts are problems we need to face and not run away from.”

On Saturday, the blackouts forced Lucius Banda to halt an Airtel-sponsored performance for 45 minutes—and there was no generator in sight. Airtel money retail manager Chris Sukasuka attributed the lack of alternative source of power to communication breakdown.