By: Hertha Ekandjo
The International University of Management (IUM) officially opened its annual cultural festival on Wednesday in Windhoek.
The official opening was held at the IUM main campus in Dorado Park in Windhoek under the theme ‘Showcasing diversity through culture.
The event was colourful, with different cultural groups from the country, mainly the Oshiwambo, Damara/Nama, Tswana, Baster, Caprivian and many other cultural troupes.
The paramount chief of the Batwana Ba Namibia Mongwaketsi Kgosiemang says that coming from a divided past is the cause of people focusing on one another’s differences rather than on their uniqueness, which is a mindset that needs to be changed.
“Such mindset should change If we are to build a society that values freedom of people to come together,” he said.
He added that events such as cultural festivals provided a platform for cultural dialogues and brought people from different cultures together.
According to Kgosiemang, as human beings, we are revealed and made known to one another by endless varieties of intelligence, values, politics and many more.
“The phrase, ‘Think locally, Act locally’, has inspired our culture to understand that the world is a multi-cultural society of which we are part,” he said.
