Good people, Lucius Banda is the man.
The moderniser of Balaka beat, who loved camouflage wear befitting his ‘soldier of the poor” moniker, sounds like a renewed version of the man who unparliamentarily stormed the National Assembly sporting a suit so red the late Chakufwa Chihana quipped what a bloody day was awaiting the house!
Then, the singer-cum-politician had an impeachment procedures’ motion to move and he was kicked out of the House after being convicted of forging a school certificate.
But it appears the storm is over and the Soldier is back in Parliament with a sweet sting for those who wish the creative sector well.
On Monday, Lucius hit the bull’s eye when he criticised President Peter Mutharika’s State of The Nation Address for not saying a word on how he intends to promote the creative world of his.
Somebody had to say something! A vocal voiceless assemblage, the creative kindred are not the thieves that steal public funds but the vulnerable milk cow government’s tax collectors love to milk without feeding.
Omitted in a 35-page address that saw the president sipping water about 10 times, the brains behind music, drama and other artworks do not only educate, entertain and inform the nation but also offer endorsement for goods and political candidates hard to sell.
Yet this vital human resource has also been orphaned by uncertainty following the abolishment of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, where the national arts and cultural policy draft rot for years without number.
Coming in three installments, Mutharika’s inaugural Cabinet makes artists wonder: ‘Where do we go from here?’ To Grace Chiumia’s Ministry of Youth, Sports, Development and Culture where only sports has a policy and council? To Kondwani Nankhumwa’s Ministry of Information, Civic Education and Tourism where arts and culture are a minute attraction for the rest of the world? Or to the Ministry of Local Government since their Zambian counterpart report to the Ministry of Traditional Leaders?
Either way, Lucius must not sleep and snore with sound like the artists that sat in Parliament like him. Arise comedian Bon Kalindo and gospel singer Allan Ngumuya.
