Artists’ welfare fund excites Usi

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife Michael Usi says the Malawian Artists Welfare Fund has registered significant milestones by helping various artists financially during emergencies.

The fund, which clocked two years in August this year, has been helping different artists with finances to cover their medical bills as well as funeral expenses.

Usi said in an interview yesterday that before setting up the fund, it was hard for government to effectively support artists during sickness and deaths as there was no system in place.

“The fund has been helpful during such difficult moments. A number of artists who were sick have been assisted. The fund has also been there to assist when the nation lost some artists,” said the minister.

The fund is the brainchild of Usi who personally sourced the start-up capital worth K16 million from the Malawi Gaming and Lotteries Authority.

For an artist to benefit from the fund, he or she needs to be a registered member of any rights holder association and then contribute an annual membership fee of K5 000.

Usi said: “The ministry established the fund for the good of our artist and the have a duty to support the fund by paying their membership fees.

“Artists should get in touch with the secretariat of the fund at the Department of Arts or through their respective associations. All arts associations should also ensure that veteran artists are registered with the secretariat of the fund.”

The fund’s vice-board chairperson James Kitchen said it was crucial for artists to belong to the fund for help in times of need.

“As you are aware, most artists are not on medical schemes, as such, they lack the required medical support. Likewise, when they are sick, financial support for their families also becomes a challenge so the fund is making an effort to ease such challenges,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kitchen said the fund has launched a campaign aimed at raising awareness among artists and other stakeholders to woo them to support the imitative.

“As a board we want to reach out to all artists in the country and enlighten them on the benefits of the fund. Our wish is to see every artist being covered and supported by the fund,” he said.

Presidents of Visual Artists Association of Malawi Gilbert Mpakule and Musicians Union of Malawi Gloria Manong’a described the concept as a solution to artists’ challenges during illnesses and deaths.

“However, there is need for massive awareness so that more,if not all, artists are covered by this fund which has already proved its worthiness,” said Mpakule.