News / Local
Bulawayo Agenda's Shona raw
18 Oct 2011 at 08:05hrs | Views
AN ugly tribal wrangle has erupted at the Bulawayo Agenda over the invitation of a Shona speaking woman to chair the Ideas Festival: Woman's Discussion Forum, at Entumbane Hall last week.
The woman, Lucia Masekesa comes from the civic society's Masvingo chapter and could not speak a single Ndebele word during the deliberations; instead she used English and or Shona to address about 600 ladies and grannies.
The majority of the people in the hall were Ndebele speaking.
A Radio Dialogue board member, Debra Mabunda said:
"What they did (organizers) is very bad ngoba izalukazi azizwa ukuthi iShona labo leli lithini (grannies don't understand what the shona speakers is talking about). I will grill them, wothi sizame kuphela ukusebenza lakho okungumuntu kwabo (lets just try to work with her)," she said.
Another delegate, Nomusa Dube complained, "Why did they not get someone from example Lupane Agenda or Gwanda Agenda, who can speak what we hear? Or there was no-one with capacity to chair a meeting in other areas. What is even worse is that we were at Entumbane," said the delegate.
A Bulawayo Agenda staffer who requested not to be named said they only saw the finished program and were never consulted about it.
"We just saw the program when we did the printing; we had no hand in it all. In fact we have little to do these days," he said.
Efforts to get a comment from the organization's director Thabani Nyoni were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
The woman, Lucia Masekesa comes from the civic society's Masvingo chapter and could not speak a single Ndebele word during the deliberations; instead she used English and or Shona to address about 600 ladies and grannies.
The majority of the people in the hall were Ndebele speaking.
A Radio Dialogue board member, Debra Mabunda said:
"What they did (organizers) is very bad ngoba izalukazi azizwa ukuthi iShona labo leli lithini (grannies don't understand what the shona speakers is talking about). I will grill them, wothi sizame kuphela ukusebenza lakho okungumuntu kwabo (lets just try to work with her)," she said.
Another delegate, Nomusa Dube complained, "Why did they not get someone from example Lupane Agenda or Gwanda Agenda, who can speak what we hear? Or there was no-one with capacity to chair a meeting in other areas. What is even worse is that we were at Entumbane," said the delegate.
A Bulawayo Agenda staffer who requested not to be named said they only saw the finished program and were never consulted about it.
"We just saw the program when we did the printing; we had no hand in it all. In fact we have little to do these days," he said.
Efforts to get a comment from the organization's director Thabani Nyoni were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
Source - Byo24News
