By Wisdom Ngwira
Mzuzu, March 23, Mana: Traditional Authority Khosolo of Mzimba District has expressed worry over continued loss of key Ngoni cultural practices in the district, saying the trend threatens the tribe’s existence.
He was speaking recently at Kabiza Primary School in the district on the sidelines of a tree planting event organised by Mzimba Heritage Association (MZIHA)-Youth chapter.
The traditional leader said key Ngoni cultural practices like Ngoni language, dances and other elements continue to dwindle among the people in the district due to urbanization among others reasons.
“For a long time, we have complained that some of our cultural practices are being lost, and now, it is even getting worse as we even fail to speak our own language.
“Even the Ingoma Dance that we used to perform, it is no longer the same,” said Inkosi Khosolo.
He said Ngonis in the district need to come together and reflect on how best they can revive their culture.
“Look at other cultures around us, you will discover that they still hold their key practices in high esteem like language and others, which is very good,” he added.
Inkosi Khosolo then proposed that it would be better if there was deliberate attempt to deploy Ngoni language teachers in some schools in Mzimba District so that they specifically teach the language there.
“If we have teachers who specialise in teaching Ngoni Language, I am sure many children in the district will be able to generate interest in learning the language which will in turn revive it,” he explained.
MZIHA youth chapter Patron, Inkosana Chigoga Jere, said their grouping is striving to ensure that many youths learn and adopt key cultural aspects of Ngoni to sustain their culture.
“For instance, we have a place in Mzuzu where we gather weekly and share various Ngoni cultural ways of living.
“We understand that as the youth, we are the nerve of our culture. We have a very vibrant Ingoma dance grouping and we want to establish similar dance groupings in all the ten traditional authorities of Mzimba District,” he said.
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