Community wants museum close to slave monument
Communities around a monument in Nkhotakota where there was a stockade which housed slaves have asked government to construct a museum nearby to help boost tourism.
In an interview, a community member, Karim Abdul Lasse, suggested that government should construct a museum at the place to sustain the country’s and the district’s history in relation to slave trade.
The call comes as the country observes the 2018 National Tourism Month, whose main event will be held on World Tourism Day on September 27 under the theme Tourism and Digital Transformation.
Lasse said that tourists visit the historic site but the community does not benefit anything.
Nkhotakota District Council director of planning and development Derick Mwenda said the council has earmarked the place for development.
“The place is one of the areas which we want to develop. We are committed to promoting tourism in the district. We would like to engage the private sector to make this happen,” he said.
Mwenda, however, said the council is liaising with Department of Antiquities and Museums on how best to execute the plan.
Nkhotakota, was one of the slave trade routes where Swahili-Arab slave trader Salim-bin Abdullah (Jumbe) set up his headquarters on the shoreline of Lake Malawi in the 1840s. n
