Strauss Lunyangwe
Windhoek-The Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (NASCAM) has called upon all our broadcasting stations and public entertainment venues to play only local music throughout this month as Namibia prepares to celebrate the 28th year of its independence in Tsumeb.
NASCAM implored broadcasters to commemorate and recognise March as the month of the national Independence Day celebrations.
NASCAM CEO, John Max has appealed to all radio stations across the country to play only Namibian music throughout this month.” Let those that have a beautiful story to tell about independence be interviewed, the one-day event in Tsumeb is not enough, and one cannot listen to everything only on the 21 March, but to start building up the joyful atmosphere to that big day, ” he added.
NASCAM feels Namibians should create a culture of pride about who they are and what they have achieved so far since their country attained its independence on March 21, 1990. The society also feels that the same should be done when approaching the month of December every year, so that everyone is in a joyful mood and show patriotism as Namibians.
It says all Namibians should raise up their national flags around their houses and businesses to show everyone who enters Namibia that Namibians are celebrating their freedom.
Joseph Ailonga, General Manager of Energy 100FM is of the opinion that playing local music for the whole month will not satisfy listeners, as everybody has different backgrounds and taste in music. He pointed to the fact that different radio stations mainly play pop, rock and Afrikaans music, which won’t be able to make up a playlist that can last for a whole month.
‘’We can try at least a whole week leading up to the day, but 70 percent of local content,” he said.
Music producer Araffath Muhure feels that an initiative like this should have been put in place a long time ago, as Namibian music is not celebrated enough. ”Let us be happy about our own product local music. This initiative should trigger a movement in terms of unifying cultures in the country,” said Muhure who also believes Namibia should take care of its own instead of hiring musicians from neighbouring countries. He feels local music content should be increased to 80 percent across the board for it to be celebrated properly.
Max feels the young ones need to get accustomed to this tradition otherwise they will not know the real value of the day but rather as any other historical day compared to the rest.