July 20, 2017
Govt has done the right thing to dissolve NAC – Saboi
Saboi Imboela
Musician Saboi Imboela says Government has done the right thing by dissolving National Arts Council (NAC).
Commenting on the dissolution of NAC, Saboi says it was long overdue because the Board had outlived its usefulness.
Below is a full reaction by Saboi on the development:
Government has finally done the right thing and dissolved the National Arts Council BOARD which has for over a decade worked against the best interest of the artists.
It is always important to separate personal and institutional things and NAC became like a personal business that served personal interests and NOT the artists…. The amount of corruption and destruction cannot even begin to be discussed. But that’s an issue for another day. All projects that were started by the Council or funded by stakeholders have come to their knees. The biggest are the Ngoma awards which is very critical to arts development, they have disappeared just like that… we need them back soon, hopefully this very year…. Zambia Breweries pulled out of the ZMAs (Zambian Music Awards) this year, which sadly had become the biggest event in Music- leaving the fans and country wondering just what cud have happened… Some people that don’t understand have been blaming musicians that were complaining about the little money they were being given that they caused it. BUT why should organisation of art events make NAC make so much money and not the artists who create the works??? Why should judges get 5 times more money than the artists who are responsible for the awards in the first place??? Kudya sitikana manje kadyedwe. The stakeholders, including ZB have been giving good money but the organisers have been misdirecting all that money to themselves. Too many issues I can’t even bring out here that any right thinking artist who works hard to create their music/ art can’t accept. So respect the artists on that one… With that said, I would like to call upon the relevant institutions to deal with the Corruption at NAC and ensure that what we saw in the past few years should never happen again… We also need to be updated on how far the issue of the Commission has gone and if it’s even necessary at all. Because the issue is not just to change the name but bad leadership that brought the Council to its knees. And HOPE we won’t see the same names that brought the Council to its knees appear as Commissioners becoz it will be just another NAC but under a different name…. we thank the Minister and all for this great and wise decision and we hope it won’t end here but ensure that all the recommendations that the artists have been giving are considered and respected. They are the ones who suffer when things are not done the way they are supposed to under this sector. And in a country with such high unemployment levels, it’s vital to develop the creative industry so that many people are taken away from the job market as they can be gainfully employed in the arts.