By Cathy Maulidi:
The creative industry’s dream of having the National Arts and Heritage Council (Nahec) is gradually turning out to be a reality as its Draft Bill is now ready, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture, Owen Chomanika said on Wednesday.
Chomanika said the Nahec Draft Bill will be tabled in the current or next meeting of Parliament.
Chomanika made the remarks at the Moroccan Embassy in Lilongwe during the launch of a book titled ‘Taken’ authored by Journalist Hope Chiwala Banda.
He said the Nahec Draft Bill once enacted into law will among others; help guide creative such as writers and filmmakers in the industry.
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“Government is now ready to table the bill as all procedures regarding tabling have been done. Within the bill, there is a framework called the National Arts and Heritage Fund which will help people in the arts sector.
“For example, the book launch like this, if the Moroccan Embassy had not come out to help Hope Chiwala Banda, where was this man going to launch his book? How could he have the help to have this type of launch? So, the bill is coming to help all in the arts sector,” Chomanika said.
He then applauded Chiwala Banda for bringing out human trafficking issues in his book saying the issues are often not told by Malawian authors.
Chiwala Banda, who works for Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS), said he has written the book to paint a picture of the harsh realities of human trafficking.
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“Malawi is a hotspot for human trafficking, but we do not talk about these issues, so I decided to bring out the voices and how we can deal away with human trafficking. This is a fiction book, but it based on research from survivors, activists, and other stakeholders fighting human trafficking,” he said.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the book launch, one of the panelists; International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission to Malawi Nomagugu Ncube hailed Chiwala Banda for tackling the issue of human trafficking in the book.
“Human trafficking is a big issue and I commend Chiwala Banda for bringing out the untold Malawi stories. Human trafficking is a mega business for the traffickers worldwide, it makes massive profits and annually it is estimated that human trafficking produces over $150 billion in profits.
“So, everyone has to take on the fight to defeat human trafficking,” Ncube said.
Moroccan Ambassador to Malawi Abdelkadar Naji said the embassy decided to help Chiwala Banda considering the importance of the issues he has raised and the impact the book can make in combating human trafficking.
