Let us not be prisoners of hope

Raisedon Baya
ABADALA bathi ithemba kalibulali. True that. Hope surely does not kill but it will certainly keep you an unhappy prisoner for a very long time if not careful. Hope can be an invisible chain that will keep you tied to one place while you continue dreaming of the day change will come or the day your conditions will change for the better. Are artistes prisoners of hope?

Take for example the issue of the National Cultural Policy. The process started way back, when Andrew Langa was still the minister in charge. When the process started we were all excited as we all believed the national document could be the turning point for the sector. We all believed this could be the document to bring change — good change into the arts as well. So consultations were done — part of consultations were funded by The Culture Fund of Zimbabwe. Before anything could materialise Andrew Langa was removed from the ministry.

After Langa came Abednico Ncube. Arts and Culture was lumped with Rural Development and under this ministry. But silently we waited and waited for the national policy document to be launched so it could spearhead development in the arts sector. Soon Ncube too was gone. Some ministries were reconfigured and Arts and Culture were taken back to Sports and Recreation under Makhosini Hlongwane.

Hlongwane came with so much promise. We remember most of us jumping and saying ourselves: This one is different. This one is young and eloquent and he will make things happen. And sure enough he and his team gave the sector a specific date for the launch of national policy document. The then Vice- President Mphoko was to launch the document here in Bulawayo. Again the winds of change came and swept Hlongwane aside.

Now we have Minister Kazembe. But every time a meeting is called it’s always the same faces in attendance, the same issues discussed, the same promises made and to a certain extent the same food eaten after these meetings. Nothing seems to change. And yet on the other hand each minister who comes to the sector seems to bring with him some new kind of hope.

Frankly speaking Minister Kazembe is young, and he talks a lot of sense. He instils in many some sense of confidence and brings new hope. But so was Hlongwane and David Coltart when he was minister under the Government of National Unity. But instilling confidence and talking sense are not the same as delivering the change the sector so much desires, so we urge the minister to outdo the former ministers. Almost five ministers have talked about the need for a national cultural policy to guide the sector and up to now no one has delivered. We now wait to see how Cde Kazembe Kazembe will fare on this one. He has promised to deliver within the famous 100 days.

Whatever happens we must continue to impress upon the powers that be the need for this national document. It is a critical national document meant to spearhead the proper and structured growth of arts and culture in this country. This document shall be our blueprint to development as it will guide our national vision and priorities as far as arts and culture are concerned.