A WEEK ago on Friday, the Tourism and Arts Minister Jean Kapata installed a two-year strategic plan; primarily a roadmap or simply what one would illustrate as a graph that ought to shape and richly facilitate the ministry achieving its ambitions, purpose or and aspirations.
Regardless of the fact that the launch has been long overdue, this chiefly, nevertheless, is virtuous news for the artistes in Zambia. Good news, without doubt as Minister Kapata has guaranteed more than 300 000 job opportunities.
The focus for the ministry during the plan period according to the minister was to appraise, evaluate and examine the tourism, cultural and wildlife policies and other related legislations.
Though my anxiety here is mainly the creative industry, the conception of jobs is thrilling and awe-inspiring, and this engages convening all entities of artistse; promoters, designers, curios sellers, hairdressers, musicians, painters, film makers, theatre artistes – the list is long, and only if all these can see their undertakings as jobs, then Zambia is headed for great success in the creative industry.
The thinking that government should first pump money into projects is not my dream; first it should be for artistes to get organised, and create a data base for identity so that we are aware where the artistes are, how many, and what areas they are involved in.
I still talk about my United Kingdom ambling a few years back, and want to admit the way things are done; our colleagues in England have a guild or guilds – a guide of artistes and to artistes, and that those unregistered are generally not benefiting from the exposure of group work.
Believably, some artistes; theatre artistes and others working in isolation, are so talented and skilled and educated that they need to offload notes and share with others. None of us intend living forever, so passing on information is humanely the best way we can exacerbate and strengthen the art industry, and leave a legacy.
Last year, Billy Whitle, a British mine consultant visited Lusaka. After reading this column, he called to ask where in Zambia he could travel to watch a locally written play; looking through my glasses, there was generally nothing on schedule except for a few guys rehearsing in Lusaka, Kitwe, Chingola  and Kabwe – Billy, regretfully went away after his three weeks stay.
Worldwide, strategic planning is the in-thing with which no individual, institution or sector and company would thrive. Unquestionably, individually, artistes essentially need to systematise, organise, categorise, manipulate and plan ahead; we all need to simply strategise if we are to make it.
In the distant past in Zambia as in many other countries, there was no strategic planning; there was no proper focus for the future, hence ministries haphazardly went about their businesses without direction – whatever, either came into daydreaming; what merely ministers and their Permanent Secretaries dreamed of was what we all danced to as a country.
I take exception that as a much younger man, I recollect seeing, hearing and reading about ministers ensuring that their ministries ticked – whichever ministry they were appointed to had to unusually perform. Remember how now our President, then Minister of Local Government or and Ministry of Health Michael Sata altered the perception and cleaned up the bureaucracies and mess that engulfed the ministries?
I clearly remember as Minister of Health when he visited Kamuchganga General Hospital in Mufulira. With Loyce Saili (now the RDA public relations manager) and I were to cover his visit – during the tour President Sata censured the managers and pointed at the iniquities, saying the cobwebs in the roofs all over the country did not need foreign exchange to clean up. Do you recall, there was a time in Zambia when managers of institutions and ministries sat back because there was no foreign exchange? Forex as it was usually referred to was the key word that made everyone lazy – there never was any aforethought.
Tourism and Arts – the strategic plan; I failed to download a copy during the week though Alexander Mbewe, one of the planning officers at the Ministry emailed it to me – expectantly, as you read this column, I should have already accessed it following Alex’s initiative to put it on the Times van to Kitwe.
Nonetheless, I am apprehensive most artistes may not clearly see the benefits in the Strategic Plan, unless we firstly, all aim to support it.
Furthermore, I am loudly thinking, the creation of the Tourism and Arts Ministry has been a milestone in Zambia, but still artistes need a ministry of their own – Ministry of Arts. As we stand, tenaciously, there is a likelihood this strategic plan focuses more on tourism than the arts, yet tourism and arts are wide areas on their own with different set ups, only compromising during at the end. They need to be separated, and soon.
A strategic plan for the arts is an engine to drive the industry ahead. In the arts we need to see beyond our noses that getting involved as practitioners and promoters in varying sizes should be well-planned.
For the creative industry to expand we need to market our skills and talents. We need exposure. We need to sell these inert abilities beyond our borders. We need to treasure whoever is engaged in the arts, seasonal and new, good or bad, weak and strong – the arts are customarily a rich resource that exposes a country’s culture and custom.
To achieve in doing this, the artistes require an enabling environment to practise from. Not necessarily do bad laws stifle artists, but government pressure that does not encourage the building  of art colleges, theatre halls, grant artists available funds, permit artistes the exposure abroad and make art related materials bearably affordable are among a few factors that make the industry stunt.
Empowering arts associations with the modalities and heartening for data collection of all the artistes would give government the resolve to plan well. For instance, questions still linger on; do arts associations; music, theatre, fine and dance know the numbers of their members and other practicing artistes? I do not think so, most artists feel they can succeed without others, without been part and parcel of the arts associations. Very rare do most people succeed single-handed.
We need a strategic plan that empowers artists that come to work together as a cooperative because in group work and unity, there is power and note-exchanging – so the launch of the two year strategic plan is welcome indeed.
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Chingola Arts Society (CAS) performed Evans Kalandanya’s latest script The Demon of the Past. The story reeves round Halugano, who unknowingly rapes his sister on the street and later marries her, and when she gives birth to a baby girl, she abandons on the street.
The abandoned girl grows from the street, goes round to look for a job as a maid. As fate would have it, while working as a maid, she is tormented by Chuma, her presumed boss, but actually her own mother. All hell breaks loose when uncle Gode (Munkanta Mwelwa) visits from the village, that the tale, sadly unfolds realities, and ends up in tragedy.
The play had a sizeable cast comprising Victor Musambo as Halugano and Chuma was played by Memory Kaweshi. Others who showed promise include Queen Mumba and Gilbert Chisanga.
Evans, who is CAS’ productions manager confirmed the show displayed a high caliber, and that the new faces showed great promise. He also said CAS has auditioned their fifth play Horses and Riders written by Leonard Koloko schemed for public performances early September.
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David Asumani, chairperson of the National Schools Arts Association of Zambia (NASAAZ) on behalf of his national executive committee has extended invitation to me as one of the drama and poetry adjudicators, a job I am humbly pleased with during the national festival at Solwezi College of Education in two days’ time from 12 to 16 August 2014.
I am delighted to leave for Solwezi tomorrow expecting to watch young talent representative of a Zambia as according to Asumani, all the provinces will be represented except for Muchinga. It is the second time I am visiting Solwezi in Northwestern, the first being a very brief one five years ago.
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From the grapevine; there is talk that the National Arts Council (NAC) offices are likely to be relocated to Livingstone, the assumed city of tourism. For me, I feel, this would be a disservice because NAC encompasses the arts associations in Zambia, and far-flung places like Nakonde, Chipata, Solwezi to name but a few will have thousands and thousands of kilometers to cover to access the NAC officers.
Perhaps, what should happen is that Livingstone should shelter NAC offices just like all other Provincial capitals should. Indisputably, I am not in favour of relocating NAC headquarters even though I am aware of how Livingstone is perceived worldwide.
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Death struck again; Charles Mwandila, former Town Clerk of Mufulira died in Lusaka and was interred at Chatulinga cemetery in Mufulira. Charles at the time of his death worked as vice chairman at the Local Government Commission in Lusaka. In his hey days, Charles was a theatre aficionado while a boy at Mukuba secondary school in Kitwe. He was into drama at school, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of the late Emmanuel Chuunda, Haggai Chisulo – the renowned David Wallace who was their teacher of literature in the school.
Several times Charles called to make comments on this column, and nostalgically, I will remember him as one of the avid readers I will no longer hear from. MHSRIP
John.kapesa818@yahoo.co.uk – 0955-0967-0977-710975