By: Annakleta Haikera

Kavango East regional council chairperson Damian Maghambayi says that African culture is slowly diminishing, and it will be difficult to restore.

He made these remarks on Thursday during the cultural festival event held at the Unam Rundu Campus. Under the theme: Embracing 30 years of cultural diversity, the event had seven cultural groups that performed and showcased their culture.

“If we do not preserve our culture today, it will be diminished, not only in Namibia but Africa at large. We should therefore not only celebrate our culture through festivity, but we should also promote the culture of documenting our culture and our history.”

Maghambayi argued that, according to the Namibian constitution, Article 19 provides for every person to be entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition, or religion.

“Do not impinge upon the rights of others or the national interest. Moreover, The story of culture is however vividly clear that because of globalisation.”

The Kavango East Regional Council also invited Rundu campus students to participate in the fight to eradicate poverty in the region, by critically assessing the dimensions that contribute to poverty in the region and coming up with recommendations that will be favorable to improve the situation.

Mukoya Vernet, Student Representative deputy president said the cultural festival was meant to remind them that, “we come from somewhere, as much as we’re from different cultures, we must not forget where we come from. In other words, it is a day we remember who we are, and tell ourselves we are within our own culture regardless of the technology. That wants to take our status away from the reality of who we are and what cultural group we belong to this is the main purpose of the event.”

Mundinda Williams, a final year student, told agreed with councillor Maghambayi’s sentiments, stating that while technology and European culture have taken away focus from some of the local cultures, people are copying too much from European lifestyles.

“We forget where we come from most importantly our culture. People no longer consider traditional food they want to eat, food that is easily cooked or made for example rice and wild food that we use to eat has vanished,” he said.

Bonifatius Andreas, representing academic affairs at the Unam Rundu campus, said, “the way we’re carrying our culture now is diverting. I have seen many wedding people wear white dresses and suits; we don’t wear attires or those animal skin, we prefer European lifestyles. We don’t appreciate what our ancestors have left behind for us. In most cases, when we’re celebrating weddings, there’s no difference from the one in Europe. Now things have changed in our culture; everything is on instruments and we are slowly moving away from drums.”