This and That

Kunkuyu is right, but…

Good people, new Minister of Tourism and Culture Moses Kunkuyu’s sermon on rampant piracy and dilapidated Blantyre Cultural Centre could be just a signal of how the cultural and creative sectors have been overrun by corrupt heads which are supposed to nurture and promote them.

Ordinarily, Kunkuyu’s trip was meant to be a familiarisation tour, a fact-finding mission on the job which lies ahead.

Of course, government has a hefty backlog of documents on the state of the tourism sector and the minister only needs to get his staff to act on the recommendations to make things better.

Kunkuyu’s fact-finding mission quickly morphed into a grim reality check, touching two things that are impoverishing the Malawian artist.

First, the minister expressed dismay at delays to renovated the cultural centre two years after government acquired it from the French Embassy.

If it takes over two years to rehabilitate such a facility, how long is it going to take to build a new one.

Your guess is as good as mine. There is no need for cross-multiplication to gauge the depth of failure, system errors and mismanagement at the ministry entrusted with promoting tourism entertainment, arts and culture.

And Kunkuyu also lamented how uncurbed piracy is reducing to street vendors, the chaotic breed which knows no bounds and laws when it comes to the scramble for customers.

Nowhere does the lamented situation manifest itself more forcefully than in Limbe, Blantyre, where gospel artists sell their offerings on every street, crossroads and shop verandah.

Every day, they storm the town, blasting the ears with sound without permission from the assembly. It is unimaginable how artists have become all-rounders – making, promoting and selling music – in a scramble for crumbs from the high tables where pirates duplicate and sale CDs without permission of the copyright holder!

This is the job that lies ahead. This is why Kunkuyu must prove whether he is a better broom than he was at the Ministry of Information where he left MBC airwaves dominated by the ruling party.

This is why he must stamp his authority to curb the spirit of corruption, procrastination and secrecy which benefit crooked heads at the ministry while artists and cultural warriors languish like in poverty.

Related Articles

Back to top button