Cabinet approves Cultural Policy

At long last artists in the country can breathe a sigh of relief as the Cultural Policy was on Monday approved by Cabinet.

Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture, Kondwani Nankhumwa, confirmed the development Tuesday, saying he was delighted that finally the Cultural Policy had been approved.

"It has taken a longtime but I am glad that the Cabinet has approved the Cultural Policy," said Nankhumwa.

He said the draft document passed without any amendment.

Nankhumwa also indicated that he would be holding a press briefing on the issue and that they are looking at launching the policy in style.

"We need to launch this policy so that Malawians out there know what it is all about. During the launch, we need to have various stakeholders," said Nankhumwa.

Several artists commended the government through the social media, saying this was their victory after 50 years of independence.

"We have fought for this Cultural Policy for years, it has not been easy. We have had to march but I am happy that all is now well and what remains after this approval is implementation," said former Musicians Union of Malawi (Mum) Southern Chapter chairperson Patrick Simakweli.

Some artists noted that this was work in progress in that after the approval, implementation has to follow and that artists need to stick together and make sure that the story does not only end at approval but rather it has to bear fruits.

However, some quarters were also confused on Monday after the approval by Cabinet as they were thinking the draft will also go through Parliament.

But an official from the Department of Culture said after the approval by Cabinet, the next move is the launch followed by its publicity and then the establishment of the National Arts and Heritage Council of Malawi.

"This was the final step so no need for it to go to Parliament," said the official, who did not want to be named.

The draft policy which saw the government inviting several stakeholders for their input including consultating some two experts, outlines the government's objectives against corresponding strategies for the preservation, conservation and promotion of the country's culture, implementation and monitoring arrangements for the strategies.

These include stakeholder involvement and establishment of the National Arts and Heritage Council (Nahec) and also outlines some of the strategies the government intends to use for the mobilization for funding for culture.

With many arts associations in the country relying heavily on the Cultural Support Scheme funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Cultural Policy i s expected to help the associations get subvention from the government although it is not automatic.

Another artist, who has spoken about the absence of the Cultural Policy for some time, Eric Trinta said artists will now benefit from their sweat and that jobs will now be created. He also said the Cultural Policy will among others; solve the issues of sanity where there have been no clear guidelines.

Ethnomusician Waliko Makhala wrote in his column a month ago that the Cultural Policy is needed so as to solve several challenges the arts industry was facing at the moment.

"There are no proper guidelines in the absence of the Cultural Policy. The industry has no direction at the moment and this is why we have shows clashing, organisers holding shows anyhow because it is free for all. We need entertainment yes but there has to be sanity," said Makhala.