Artists voice concerns on drafting of new ‘Culture Policy’ in TZ

By @CarolAnande-Facebook; @CarolAnande-Instagram; @CarolAnande-Twitter

Various Art Stakeholders present at CDEA (extreme left)
Harry a.k.a  MC 'One the Incredible' in Nov'16

Currently the Ministry of Information Culture, Arts & Sports-ICAS in Tanzania is in the process of amending its policies. It is inviting suggestions from stakeholders countrywide, including the country’s arts council-BASATA by end of Dec'16. 

The arts council here, is tasked with giving a concise document with amendments of the current ‘Culture Policy-1997’; specifically in the drafting of new policies in Art, Film & Language.

“Thank you CDEA for this breakfast meeting my worry however is, this is a big thing. You know ‘policy’ is the mother law; you come from the Constitution then the Policies, which then inform the laws. So slight wrongs in policy can ensure the laws that follow are either useless, even harmful to the sector”-Mr. Adrian Nyangamulle, President of the Network of Fine Artists within BASATA

CDEA-‘Culture & Development East Africa’ an NGO in operation since 2012 in Tanzania, under the sponsorship of Hivos, has been lending a hand to BASATA in this endeavour since May’16. When it was privy to the open call from the Ministry of ‘ICAS’.

Director of CDEA, Mme Ayeta Wangusa at
the breakfast meeting with various Art Stakeholders
in TZ

On the 18th of November at CDEA offices in Dar, various stakeholders in the arts including myself were invited to a round table discussion; to give final edits & comments on the draft document procured by CDEA & BASATA. That will be presented to the Ministry as the professional feedback from Tanzanian artists, on the amendment of the ‘culture policy-1997’.

The irony is many of those present including experts in the field. 

Like songstress, musician & current principal of MUDA-‘Music Mayday Training Centre’ Mme Carola Kinasha. The Director of ‘Tanzania Music Network,’cultural music journalist, previous employee of COSOTA (Copyright Society of Tanzania) & long time musician Mr. John Kitime-‘Wananjenje Band’. Mme Agnes Lukanga director of ‘Binti Leo’ a network of female artists in performing arts, a performing arts teacher, actress & ‘Ngoma’ connoisseur; not forgetting fine artist & president of the ‘Network of Fine Artists’ in BASATA, Mr. Adrian Nyangamulle. As well Mr Kibacha Nsingo a.k.a MC KB former ‘Kwanza Unit’ member, one of the pioneers of ‘Bongo Flava’ and current director of TPPRL-Tanzania Publishing & Performing Rights Ltd.

Left Mme Agnes Lukanga, right Mr John Kitime at CDEA
headquarters in Mikocheni, DSM 

Had no idea of the call from the Ministry via public announcements “I came to know through this call from CDEA…” MC KB

Indeed, the call for amendments isn’t well publicised save for the ministry’s website. Which even as you enter its home page, there’s no clear notice for a call of suggestions from stakeholders of the industry. http://habari.go.tz/uploads/documents/sw/1471329804-MAPENDEKEZO.pdf That is until you happen to press the ‘machapisho’ icon. 

Now the telling thing is Tanzania is a signatory to the 2005 convention sponsored by the UN with the ‘The Protection And Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions’. We’ve been a signatory since 2012. The charter explicitly states that “Parties shall a) provide appropriate information in their reports to UNESCO every four years on measures taken to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions within their territory and at the international level…” 

Now it fairs from the art experts that CDEA & BASATA consulted, in tabling their initial draft document. Including the mc’s, producers, musicians, poets, culture journalists, fine artists, film promoters, theatre experts, present at this roundtable discussion. That there’s an obvious mistake the Ministry is making in packaging the new ‘Culture policy’ in the categories of ‘Film, Language & Art’

Mme Demere Kitunga, in a still from a documentary procured
by CDEA for BASATA where she was interviewed
on her views on amendments of the 'culture policy' in TZ

Mme Demere Kitunga publisher & editor from E& D Publishers Ltd, puts this in perspective. “The wing of art in language is literature, where literature is used in various forms of art. You have lyricists in songs, scriptwriters in plays & films so you see placing language as a wing of the cultural policy, where which literature policies will be found & not within the ‘art policies’ is discordant …”

Still its very promising that the Ministry of ICAS is currently seeing the importance of amending our Cultural Policy. As there’s dire challenges in the industry, notwithstanding our education syllabus is still not taking art education particularly at the Primary & Secondary level seriously, if at all. 

Current Director of Nafasi
ArtSpace 
(an NGO also supported by 'Hivos') 
Miss Rebbeca Corey
also present at the roundtable
inside CDEA offices

Even our current Minister of ICAS Hon Nape Moses Nnauye, hasn’t set foot inside the country’s College of Arts-TASUBA in Bagamoyo. This since he got his post last year, not even for the recent annual arts festival hosted by the college in October’16. Where he was scheduled to be the Guest of Honour. On the other hand he’s been seen at the inauguration of foreign hosted art festival ‘Namaste’ sponsored by the High Commissioner of India. Whereas TASUBA’s arts festival has been running for 30 years…

“We were practicing musicians during the time of ‘ujamaa’; where musicians weren’t even allowed to play songs with native languages…we used to laugh how ‘Radio Tanzania’ would play Congolese songs, English songs, but if I wanted to record a song in ‘Hehe’ they would say no as I was going to air ‘secret’ messages. You know that song ‘wifi twende nyumbani’, it was actually a Bena song which said ‘wifi twende tuiage’” Mr. Kitime  

Mr Kitime expressing concern that the Ministry is still hailing from days past, where the mandates for artists were synonymous with the political agenda. A sentiment shared by budding film maker Amil Shivji of Kijiweni Productions, with regard to the censorship afforded film works currently.

Still on this meeting BASATA’s representative Mr Onesmo Kayanda, urged the artists present to register themselves with the art council. As the council is thinking of ways of making membership more lucrative. Despite that currently the four artists networks within the council; don’t feature literature artists or design artists among others.

Extreme Left- MC KB, a.k.a Kibacha Nsingo,
Standing Up-'Mr Onesmo D.M.Kayanda'
representative from BASATA 

It could be the four year ‘review’ clause in the ‘The Protection And Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions’ UN Act. Is what is pushing the Ministry of ICAS to hasten this process, hoping to secure the donor funds therein; for as Mr Onesmo puts it. “You see last year your whole Ministry was given only 3 billion TSHS in this annual budget, yet in 2010 the industry’s annual contribution to our GDP was 614 billion TSHS…” Which means not only are the artists faring critical challenges but the Ministry itself.

In the end it was agreed by all present that; “…Before the Ministry sits to pen the amended ‘Cultural Policy,' I respectfully suggest they invite a team of stakeholders like the one we have here. A team that fairly represents the artists on the ground. We don’t want what happened in Dr Kikwete’s time to recur, where Art Promoters get to advice the President on ways forward in this industry. It’s not that they are not stakeholders but I believe the primary stakeholder in the art industry is the artist. ” Mme Carola Kinasha.