It is finished! An elderly cultural warrior sighed with helplessness and threw his frail hands in the air amid a losing battle to save the hilltop Mpale Cultural Village in Mangochi from a stubborn fire which razed down government-owned exhibitions of his way of life yesterday morning.
That morning, John Seleman, 67, had visited Mpale to find out when his group was due for a performance, but he found himself in the thick of things as locals and workers helplessly tried to save the very auditorium where he used to showcase the dances of his ancestors to tourists and townspeople every month.
Alas! The accident started as sheer bush fire at the bottom of the hill around 10am when it was sighted by artisans erecting a tank which is scheduled to end water problems at the tourism and cultural exchange site.
Calls for firefighters from Club Makokola and Monkey Bay Army Camp came late to save the situation.
“If only we had acted earlier, we could have saved this place,” sighed Seleman as the glass-thatched roof fell under the impact of the rising flames.
Mpale Village manager Skywell Makalande told The Nation that he suspected that the fire was an act of vengeance by some young men who were caught stealing water pipes and crates of beverages from the stores.
