From sex tape scandal: Tiwa Savage in Malawi to ‘teach’ girls

…the curious world of celebrity activism arrives in Malawi

LILONGWE — Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Tiwa Savage is in Malawi, this time not to fill a stadium or promote a new hit, but as the celebrity face of a United Nations campaign to protect women and girls from violence.

Savage is visiting Malawi under the UN Spotlight Initiative, which says it brought the internationally renowned singer to the country to help raise awareness about gender-based violence and amplify the voices of women and girls.

It is an interesting choice of messenger and, depending on how one looks at it, perhaps an unusually fitting one.

Savage was thrust into a very different kind of international spotlight in 2021 when a private sex tape involving her and her then-partner leaked online.

The singer said at the time that someone had obtained the intimate video and demanded money to prevent its release. Savage refused to pay and instead went public about the blackmail before the video eventually circulated online.

Five years later, she is in Malawi speaking to women and girls about abuse, harassment and the right not to suffer in silence.

There is an unmistakable irony in an international development industry increasingly turning to celebrities and influencers to carry messages traditionally entrusted to activists, social workers and community organisations.

But Savage’s own experience also complicates any easy criticism of her appointment.

Rather than disqualifying her from speaking about violence against women, being subjected to alleged sexual blackmail and the non-consensual circulation of intimate material arguably gives her first-hand experience of precisely the sort of technology-facilitated abuse women increasingly face.

Tiwa Savage meets First Lady Gertrude Mutharika at Kamuzu Palace during her Malawi GBV campaign. The Nigerian superstar was herself subjected to blackmail over a private sex tape that later leaked online. Photo: State House Malawi/Facebook

During an intergenerational dialogue in Malawi, Savage urged women and girls to speak out against abuse rather than silently endure it.

The UN says her visit is intended to draw international attention to gender-based violence in Malawi and showcase interventions supported through the Spotlight Initiative.

Savage has also visited communities and met survivors, women creatives, government officials and development partners. She has pledged K17.5 million to Music Crossroads Malawi to support young female creatives and announced plans to establish a Tiwa Savage Music Foundation in the country.

On Friday, she met First Lady Gertrude Mutharika at Kamuzu Palace, where the First Lady encouraged artists and influential personalities to use their platforms in the fight against gender-based violence.

Mutharika said she “discussed the powerful role creative artists play in driving positive social change”.

So, celebrity diplomacy has arrived.

Whether Malawi’s girls need another international star to tell them to speak up, or stronger institutions that actually listen when they do, may be the more important question.