It has been a quiet two weeks in the arts and entertainment sector owing to the fact that the country had to undertake its civil duty of electing office-bearers to take charge of national affairs for the next five years.
As is expected, the electoral period has its own way of affecting peoples life patterns. All the speed that characterises many undertakings is automatically slowed almost to zero. It is a boring period for the go-getters and all those who are used to high-tempo indulgencies.
In the midst of all that anxiety that is associated with this period, one sector that receives the most shock is probably the arts and entertainment industry, with few or no events at all lined up during this period.
The days are flat. When you step out of the house you neither get the feeling of a normal working day nor a holiday nor a weekend. The days fall in their own category because of their lack of direction and definition.
During this period, many people would certainly do with distractions that entertainment offers but oftentimes the period is laced with undue tensions and, subsequently, the environment which is created is not one in which fun can be fully attained.
Days after the Election Day last weekend, acoustic artist Lulu had a planned performance at Rock City in Lilongwe on Saturday evening. But with the growing political uncertainty, the artist was forced to call off his show at the eleventh hour.
It was a sad experience for fun seekers from within the city who did not get the message communicating the cancellation of the show who went to the venue thinking that the show was on only to be welcomed by silence.
Such is the effect that the elections had on the delivery of entertainment. People elsewhere will hope that we all move on very fast from any hangover that has been brought about by this period. We cannot get stuck here forever.
In this very spirit, several artists have gone to announce schedules for their events expected to take place across the country this weekend. Lucius Banda and his Zembani Band, the reggae men from Chileka, Black Missionaries and Wendy Harawa are some of the artists who will be in the fray.
The very hope that these acts have in arranging for these shows is the same faith that their fans out there are holding out. And in earnest, it is the same that each and every well-meaning Malawian should be riding on.
The pockets of violence that have been recorded in some selected areas in the post-election period will not mean anything even they can go on for months or years. The only thing certain about this is an outcome where lives and property will be unnecessarily lost.
A country which has 17 million people should not have huge problems in identifying a common understanding. Even though some may feel cheated by the outcome or whatever there is nothing worth dying for.
It is very obvious that from any competition, emerges only one winner so the quicker the losers come to terms with the reality the better. Let us start moving towards mending the relationships that may have strained during the course of the campaign which is mostly spurred by high levels of adrenalin.
This is the only country we have. The duty to make this place peaceful rests on everyone’s shoulders. Let each one of us do their part so that we create a space where everything is tenable and not electing barriers that will eventually limit our existence.
For the sake of our children, their children and for the sake of Malawi, the country we both love so much I believe we will do the right thing so that our lives quickly return to normal. n
