Lilongwe — Organisers of the Urban Music Party (UMP) have apologised for some technical problems encountered during the event which led to the postponing on some of the activities that were on the roaster.

The event encountered electrical problems as there was a power cut during the winding up moments which led to the failure to give out awards which were on schedule.

"Our technicians failed to identify and rectify the problem, even the stand by generator could not help. For this we take full responsibility and sincerely apologise to the patrons and stakeholders.

"Due to the interruption of the programme, we failed to hold the media awards activity. We managed, though, to give out one of the Life Time Achievers Award to late Vic Marley which was received by his brother, Star Marley," said Maurice Nkawihe, UMP Public Relations Manager in a press statement made available to Malawi News Agency (Mana).

UMP has, therefore, decided to arrange for a special hand out of the awards, thus, the Media Award and Lifetime Achievers Award to Black Life Entertainment.

Nkawihe said the date and place for the specially organised awards presentation ceremony will be officially communicated to the concerned parties once all arrangements have been finalised.

Despite the developments, UMP says the event which was held last Saturday at the Blantyre Culture Centre was a success saying the event was held with spectacle and glamour and as such organisers were impressed with the audience response.

"The pre-show at Chichi's Spot Club in Chinyonga, Blantyre was unprecedentedly packed to the brim on Friday night and the final event as well as the after-party at Blue Elephant on Saturday night received one of the biggest crowds this year.

"And many thanks to everybody, including the sponsors, who participated in this year's UMP Festival. After a 2 year break, we are happy that overall our key objectives were met. We are proud of our achievement in producing this unique festival," said Nkawihe.

The statement subsequently extends gratitude to all who participated in this year's UMP festival, as the media, which according to Nkawihe; was above the bar, working tirelessly, in ensuring that the festival was successful.

The festival was supported by Airtel Money, GOtv (Multichoice), Star Radio, Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL) among others. It is being organised by a team put together by Nde'feyo Entertainment and Prime Time Media.