The MTC Content Creation Awards 2026 has changed its voting process, following a security breach last year when winners were leaked to the public before the official ceremony.

The organisers now face pressure to prove this year's voting system is transparent and secure.

Nominations for the 24 categories began last week at an event in Windhoek, where the creatives got to nominate themselves.

Speaking at the media launch in Windhoek last week, MTC spokesperson Erasmus Nekundi addressed growing frustration surrounding the event.

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"An incident like last year's is counterproductive to what we want to build, and it destroys the trust people have in us," he said.

"We are trying to build a brand. When you have an incident like that, it reduces credibility, damages our reputation, and pulls us in completely the wrong direction."

The leak triggered heavy criticism from local social media personalities and creators, many of whom publicly questioned the fairness of the voting process and how winners were being selected.

Acknowledging the backlash, Nekundi stressed that rebuilding trust is priority. He called on the organisers and everyone involved behind the scenes to tighten security and guarantee that a blunder of this scale never happens again.

He said the panel of judges this year will not include any organisers but rather external parties.

"Building trust is incredibly important," Nekundi said.

"We just want to advise the organisers, and everyone involved, to make sure going forward that we alone hold this information, and we do not let incidents of this nature happen again."

Awards founder Carlos Gurirab called on more sponsors to join the initiative.

The awards are set to take place in October, along with a content creator workshop.