Youth meet sets tone for Mulhako event

As Mulhako wa Alhomwe annual cultural festival starts this Friday, organisers have stressed the need for Lhomwe youths to learn and appreciate values of their culture while at a tender age.

Mulhakowa Alhomwe chairperson Leston Mulli said it was important for Lhomwe youths to know and fully understand their culture if they are to effectively contribute to national development.

The business mogul was speaking during a youth conference in Thyolo to equip Lhomwe youths from across the country with skills on entrepreneurship and career choice while also imparting knowledge to them about their culture ahead of the three-day Mulhako wa Alhomwe annual celebration.

“It is crucial that our youths, not only Lhomwe youths but all Malawian youths, learn and fully appreciate their cultural traditions.

“In our case, the youth need to know about the cultural values of their tribe because there is time for everything, one day they will be called to lead the grouping,” he said.

 Associate professor of drama and development media at University of Malawi’s (Unima) Chancellor College Mufunanji Magalasi observed that a person who does not understand his culture does not have roots.

“Such a person ends up being pushed from one corner to another. Culture gives a person self esteem, a person goes around the world with confidence and is never intimidated or easily dominated,” he said.

Promise Malimbitsa, one of the 298 Lhomwe youths mostly from private and public colleges, said the symposium helped them to fully understand about their culture and its history.

“The knowledge of our cultural traditions will also help us to build our capacity and forge ahead while contributing towards developing our country.

“A person without culture is hopeless because we can only develop if

we know where we are coming from and where we are going. As such, culture is an important aspect in our national development,” said Malimbitsa, a student from Kamuzu College of Nursing.

This year’s Mulhako wa Alhomwe event will honour three departed souls—the grouping’s founder and the country’s former president Bingu wa Mutharika, former chairperson Bright Mangulama and Paramount Chief Ngolongoliwa.