Either I am a difficult
and dull chap or I poke my nose in the wrong place. I still cannot get it.
Not getting it has
nothing to do with what you are thinking; that I am either high on something or
just somewhere on a dizzying height wondering what is wrong with me and
heights.
But the reason I am
posing the question above, in pursuit of some answers because honestly, I am
none the wiser. I have tried to glean through all possible and visible holes to
ensure that I get something but really I can’t understand. What is government?
Who is government? Who uses the money I pay in tax? Is it free money?
Perhaps let’s start from
the beginning.
February 2011
In this month, in this year
that’s when I first talked about the ‘Blantyre Cultural Centre’. You are wondering what
I am talking about and I cannot blame you.
In
wonder you are exclaiming: “Blantyre Cultural Centre” what is that a policy,
a film, a book, or a certain local location in Mangochi; or what?
What if
I say, “French Cultural Centre”; in fact you will even smile because of how
provocative this name is considering that it is the memory that is being
hassled.
Well, all
those questions above are coming because of this place whose closure as ‘the French Cultural Centre’ after
a dignified service duty of 38 years elicited a mourning that made me shudder
with shame.
I said in February 2011 that unlike crying over divorce or death, the closure of the French Cultural Centre, if anything, should have made all of us celebrate.
Celebrate because, the centre’s existence was never in vain. The French’s stay in Chichiri in Blantyre should have been endearing, knowing what vast lessons had been left. With such knowledge, instead of writing mourning pieces or airing out woeful programmes for the closure we would have said:
But my celebrations, unfortunately ended in
dripping tears that no size of any hankie in the world would dry out.
December
2012
And it led me to the Tourism
and Culture Ministry which I blamed in December 2012, wondering as I did then what type of authority is put to manage
our government, following events surrounding the former French Cultural Centre,
now Blantyre Cultural Centre.
I asked: “How
can government pay K300 million for the centre and then left it without putting
any security leading to vandalism that completely defaced its usefulness?”
Government
bought the centre and threw it into some preying hands that ‘befittingly’
ransacked and looted and last time I checked government was very busy trying to
arrest the perpetrators.
It was clearly
comprehensible that someone I am paying with my tax did not do his or her job
well and I do not know what came over me as I demanded that heads out to roll
in the Ministry of Tourism and Culture for their failure to provide security to
the centre.
Looting
started from right at the main gate where the guard room’s steel door and all
window panes were stolen. Right in the yard a non-running Mitsubishi 4by4 blue
vehicle that was parked inside was robbed of all its valuables and made to sit
on stones.
The
library windows were broken and thousands of valuable books stolen or
destroyed. They did not spare the state-of-the-art equipment such as public
address system, Plasma TVs, computers and some furniture.
Police
formerly charged long time music promoter and private practising lawyer, Jai
Banda for buying the stolen equipment that included a sound craft mixer and
power supply cables whose true value is K5 million but was bought at a total
cost of K200, 000.
Some of
stolen equipment Police say they have also recovered include Yamaha drum set, a
microphone and bongos from Pastor Kenneth Dickson of Hope for all Nations
church in Ndirande who bought them at K100, 000 when they are valued at
millions of kwacha.
The
property stolen from the venue is worth K20 million or more.
The
centre has shaped the music and drama of the country because it made itself
accessible at an affordable rate.
Maximum
charge then was about K50 000 which was far below what today’s popular venues
like Robins Park, Comesa and College of Medicine Complex charge, which is
between K150 000 to K300 000 per performance, I hope it still is the case.
It is a
mockery that so far Blantyre Arts Festival has used the place because it had
invited Salif Keita and had nowhere else to host him and after pleading with
government they were given a nod.
The
second time the place was used was when Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu with
his gospel music competition was allowed to use the place because of his
political might.
The place
remains closed to the people – artists – who need it most.
I
happen to pass by the place every weekend and the place is dead and very
attractive to another ransacking.
Whoever
is responsible for my tax that was used to buy the facility, please tell
government or whoever is in-charge that if they have no time to make use of it,
let it out; outsource for our services and let us run it on their behalf, so
that when we say Blantyre Cultural Centre no one should look at me
with any blank face.
Mobile: 0882233220
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