A total of 15 artists competed in the final round of the Tikonzekere Arts Contest.

The artists were put in five categories of visual arts, music, short videos, stories and poems.

Government through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) introduced the contest as a way of disseminating messages on flood vulnerability reduction good practices through art.

In an interview with YONECO FM online, director of disaster response and recovery Harris Kachale said government supported this initiative in line with the National Disaster Risk Management Communication Strategy of 2014.

“According to the strategy, one of the important activities is to develop and implement DRM competitions targeting specific groups of people such as the media, learners, artists and the general public.”

“Artists have an important role to play in spreading messages on disasters, through music or drawings they can sensitize communities on flood prevention thereby reducing risk of disasters,”  said Kachale.

The grand prize in each category was K150,000, second place was awarded K100,000 where as third place was awarded K50,000.

Magdalenia Nakhoyo’s piece,”Zafikapa N’pa Chizolowezi” was chosen as the best poem. The song “Kupewa” by Fungai Mutsinze came first in the music category.