Dramatists lament lack of corporate support
Members of the National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) have lamented the lack of support from the corporate world and have argued that this had attributed to the failure of Malawi’s theatre to grow and breakthrough to the international stage.
Some of the members of the association, who have formed a task force to help source funds to help the association hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) which has been postponed thrice due to lack of funds, said this on Tuesday during the task force’s meeting.
The members, who include Ntam vice treasure and Ntam Southern Region chapter chairperson Lyson Namalomba, Thomson Newton, MacArthur Matukuta and Max DC, said it is sad that no one seems to recognise theatre as a service that can help develop the country if it is well supported as it has done in Nigeria and Ghana.
Newton, who is chairperson for the task force, said they have seen companies supporting music, sports and other art disciplines and wonder theatre have been sidelined.
“Ntam does not get any support from government and it relies on the Cultural Support Scheme from Norway which is coordinated by the Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma). The money is not even enough and I am surprised when I see companies scrambling to sponsor a single art discipline. At the moment Ntam has no money for its AGM and everyone knows that for our operations to be smooth, an AGM plays a key role,” he said.
Spokesperson for the taskforce Matukuta said the association adopted a hard line against its suspended president Ian Chitsekula for mismanaging funds as a way of convincing the public that they strive for transparency and accountability.
He added that they plan to have the AGM on December 14. The association needs K1.5 million (about $3 750) for the AGM. Members have contributed K320 000 (about $800).
