Minister of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife Michael Usi has asked youths in the country to refrain from copying cultures of other countries because they are killing the country’s cultures.
Usi made the statement during the launch of Zodiak National Dance Competition (ZONDACO) at Mbavi Trading Centre in Lilongwe.
The minister said that it is important to preserve culture despite of the person’s education background because culture defines the personality, dressing and way of living of any person regardless of an individual’s origin.
He then asked organisers of event to always pay traditional dance groups whenever they perform at any occasion because they are part of entertainment.
“There is a need for the corporate world to support culture. It is very important that our youth should be aligned with the culture of this country,” he explained.
On his part, Head of Programs at Zodiak Joab Frank Chakhadza said it is important for the people in the community to be given an opportunity to showcase their talent because by doing so they will be encouraged to preserve the culture.
He also explained that as a media house they came up with the idea as a way of promoting and preserving of culture and to expose hidden talents that people have in local areas.
National Vice Chairperson Coordinator for Culture and Tradition Japher Mussa commended Zodiak and government including other partners for supporting traditional dance groups considering that it is one way of uniting people of different culture .
The ceremony which brought up different people from different tribes such as Chewa, Yao and Tumbuka was spiced up with different traditional dance groups from Chigwedera, Ngongonda and Mwenera who went away with prizes of K100,000, K75,000 and K50,000 respectively after performing well at the ceremony.
The Pilot phase of the ZONDACO project will target three of the major dances namely Manganje , Gulewamkulu and Vimbuza .
On Manganje the project will be targeting Blantyre, Zomba and Machinga. On Gulewamkulu it will be targeting Kasungu, Dowa and Lilongwe while on Vimbuza it will target Chitipa ,Mzimba and Rumphi.
