04 Sep 2018

This year’s annual Bambukushu cultural festival, Mbungu-Wa-Kathimana did not live up to expectations.

In its 18^th edition, the event which aims to preserve and revive the Bambukushu culture attracted only a handful of enthusiasts over the weekend.

  There was also an element of disorganisation at the 2018 event as it also started way behind time.

Okavango MP, Bagalatia Arone urged the organising committee to up its game and that the cultural festival should be taken seriously. He said the theme; My culture, my identity, suggested the importance of culture as it was culture that defined people’s identity and origins, hence he also encouraged unity among the Hambukushu.

Arone, who is also Minister of Basic Education, said societies such as Mbungu-Wa-Khathimana were important in the sense that they could be used in advocacy and lobbying some ideas which could inform government decisions. 

He gave an example that Mbungu could be the voice of people in advocating for the Setswana language subject be taken as an option at schools and English be left as the core subject.

On another issue, he said though Hambukushu was one of the tribes that were committed to upholding their cultural values and embracing their culture, there were some individuals who were not willing to be associated with being Bambukushu because of the tribes’ background.

He said the fact that Okavango was an area faced with many challenges such as low levels of education and poverty among others, some did not want to be associated with originating from such an area.

For his part, motivational speaker at the event, Kenny Kapinga encouraged the Mbungu-Wa-Kathimana society to benchmark at some other local events of its magnitude such as Kuru Dance Festival in the Kgalagadi region.

“This is a big event, we should be having visitors or tourists among us here to witness our culture. No one will take you serious when you do not take yourselves serious, it has to start with you. 

Learn to respect time,” said Kapinga.

However, Mbungu-Wa-Kathimana Cultural Society chairperson, Bafenyang Ngaka said planning for such an event was costly while the P30 000 they were given by government every year was not enough.

He pleaded with the community and other stakeholders to assist financially for a successful cultural festival. 

The annual dance festival attracts different performing groups in the region to display the Hambukushu type of dance such as Diware and Seperu.

This year the festival was liven up with the Hambukushu Church choirs. BOPA