Speaking of industrialisation, while undermining the arts sector is tantamount to cursing the farmer with your full food. After all, there is no development without the arts. Everything starts with a drawing or design and that is art.
This is the view of Dominque Lumenge, lecturer at the College of the Arts, in Windhoek.
Lumenge is a Zambezi-born artist. He was born and bred in the Kongola area, approximately 25 kilometres from the region’s capital, Katima Mulilo. As is the norm with all children who were born before independence, one had to find their skill and hone it to make it. Lumenge was and is still a skilled banjo player.
“I had a homemade banjo which I used to perform around my neighbourhood. By the time I hit secondary school, I joined the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso). At that time, the movement was protesting against the Bantu education system,” Lumenge revealed, adding that he grew through the ranks and eventually became the Nanso regional chairperson for the Zambezi region (then Caprivi), in 1987.
The following year, as fate will have it, he was expelled from school and became ‘wanted’ by the administration of the apartheid regime.
“I had to flee from home and ended up staying at one of our camps in the bush. I only came to the main village periodically, for food and other supplies,” Lumenge revealed.
“I remember visiting the village of Omega and being picked up by one of the officers of the regime. We were taken to Katima Mulilo and detained for more than 24 hours,” he said, adding that with these being his formative years, he was now more determined than ever to fight for justice, and he was going to use his art.
In 2001, he went to Zimbabwe, on a government scholarship, to pursue a Diploma in Music. Upon completion, he returned home and attempted to continue with his studies at the University of Namibia, in 2006.
“I however had to drop out because I was not getting anything new from this course. I think, the Zimbabwean curriculum was a bit more advanced than the curriculum that they offered at Unam, at that time,” he maintained.
As a result, he registered for a Bachelor of Arts in Music at the same university, in Zimbabwe and graduated in 2009. In 2011, he joined the College of the Arts as a lecturer and in 2011, he was promoted to the position of Head of Department for the Directorate of African Performing Arts specialising in dance and drum.
Queried as to why he joined the civil sector. He maintained that he was inspired by the ethics and sense of responsibility that comes with working for the State.
Another motivating factor behind his joining the government was the motivation that he and his peers got from the then executive director (ED) of the ministry of higher education, Vitalis Ankama.
Every time the ED travelled to Zimbabwe, he would ensure that he met with us, through the embassy. We sat with him for hours where he will encourage us to join the civil service upon completion of our studies,” Lumenge revealed.
Duty
As HoD, Lumenge said, part of his job is to ensure the smooth running of the course and to hold lecturers to account to ensure that the students get value for their money, during the three years that they are pursuing their studies.
“I ensure that lecturers report for duty and that the students get their value for money spent. I further ensure that whatever equipment that the department has is used for practical purposes, returned, and held in a safe place. It is also part of my duties to intervene in the event that students have complaints to raise against the lecturers or vice-versa to ensure that the learning remains conducive and free from strife,” Lumenge stressed.
Admittedly, any work environment where you deal with individuals from different walks of life is never without challenges. Lumenge became bothered as he uttered some of the challenges that his department faces among them, the issue of insufficient space.
“We have to understand that when this building was constructed, it was meant to cater for children of the white minority and black elites. As such, the classes were made up of smaller groups. But now that we have opened the intake up for all and sundry, we are sitting with serious space constraints,” Lumenge stressed.
He further emphasised the fact that due to budgetary constraints, there is a shortage of instruments and other required equipment which would otherwise have made the work of the lecturers much easier.
Be that as it may, Lumenge believes that he has found his true calling and the perfect employer, in the government.
“Being out there minding my business and running into some of my former students, who are now productive citizens and making significant contributions to the arts sector in the country is more than rewarding. It is priceless to be invited to a wedding of one of my former students and be accorded five minutes in order to say a word or two,” Lumenge said reminiscently.
The outspoken Lumenge further hailed the civil service for the perks and other benefits citing that, despite the monthly salaries, which might be at par with what others are paid in the private sector, the government ensures that all employees are properly taken care of in terms of housing, health, and overall wellness.
He debunked as false the perception that government employees are lazy and largely inefficient citing that with the introduction of a performance management system within the civil service, there is no room for such tendencies.
Here to stay
The long-serving civil servant did not mince his words when he stated that he harbours no plans to leave the public sector anytime soon.
“I will be here until my retirement after which I will go home and play my banjo,” he said with a chuckle.
As a parting shot, he maintained that he wished for the College of the Arts to one day become a fully-fledged university, with its own budget and where students can engage in research and pursue qualifications up to the master’s level and beyond.
“It is high time that our lawmakers get serious with the arts in this country,” he stressed.