Waliko warns of fading heritage

Ethnomusicologist Waliko Makhala has warned that Malawi’s cultural heritage will fade away if government does not set up deliberate interventions in upholding culture.

In an interview on Wednesday after performing in Mzuzu, the musician said a number of cultural aspects such as dances, folktales, instruments, languages and songs are disappearing and no one seems to care.

Said Makhala: “We did a study with the Department of Culture and we found that various cultural aspects are disappearing at an alarming rate. For example, traditional dances such as samba, chiwenga and ndingala in Karonga are disappearing.

“In Nsanje, dances such as utse, maseseto and lukhuba are also fading away. We need proper funding towards the creative industry; proper funding to document these dances and conduct inter-village contents as malipenga dancing communities do.

“We need to construct cultural villages as a way of promoting these dances. We also need community orientated cultural activities. For example, government can come up with a presidential initiative on culture.”