9. Culture, Media and Sports

(i) Culture

Kenya is blessed with a rich cultural heritage from diverse communities. Although these communities had co-existed independently within their sociocultural environments, the situation drastically changed with the advent of colonialism. The colonialists suppressed indigenous elements of culture and imposed foreign languages, beliefs, lifestyles and traditions. Colonialists in their bid to exercise control also established a policy of divisiveness and cultural intolerance that since independence has been built on by some politicians ending up with negative ethnicity. FORD People believes in a Kenya that respects, nurtures and celebrates the cultural diversity of its peoples thereby endeavouring to harness this and turn it into strength for uniting the people. To be able to achieve this, a FORD-People government will implement the following:

▪ Place culture at the centre of development with all administrative levels supporting and encouraging cultural activities within their regions.

▪ Fully implement cultural rights as provided for in international instruments such as the UDHR and UNCESCR.

▪ Encourage cultural exchange and cooperation with other countries.

▪ Support initiatives aimed at eliminating harmful cultural practices

▪ Promote the wearing of various African attires and adornments as a means of cultural preservation.

▪ Encourage and support the teaching and use of indigenous languages to Kenyan children.

▪ Promote the retrieval (including from overseas) and preservation of important objects of cultural value and also establish national art galleries to recognize, protect and promote creative talent.

▪ Recognize and acknowledge the important role of traditional/ alternative medicine and strive to conserve natural resources as an important source of traditional medicine.

▪ Popularize and patent items of our peoples’ cultural heritage such as traditional dress, food and drink, music, dance and folklore.

▪ Establish a national fund for the conservation and protection of immovable artefacts of cultural value such as monuments.

▪ Rehabilitate and fund Bomas of Kenya and Kenyan museums to become living cultural centres.

▪ Support and promote the teaching and examination of traditional music and dance in all learning institutions as a means of promoting culture among Kenyans.

▪ Promote and encourage the learning of Kiswahili as our national language while at the same time encouraging the learning of other foreign languages as a means of interaction with the international community.

▪ Implement the Copyright Act of 2001.

▪ Promote cross-cultural activities such as festivals and concerts; establish cultural centres, museums and theatres to sensitize and educate Kenyans on the value of preserving our cultural heritage.

▪ Recognize and appreciate our national heroes and also people who have made great contributions to our country.

(ii) Media

The media have a major role to play in influencing Kenyan culture and the institutionalization of democracy. The increasing power of the Kenyan media is such that it has come to occupy its space as the fourth estate. As media outlets multiply, challenges of their independence, self regulation, quality of content and cross ownership continue to be of concern. Apart from the negative influence arising from highlighting mainly western culture and the near absence of local content, globalisation and the internet have brought in unique challenges. FORD People envisions a truly professional and responsible media that keeps the citizenry well-informed, educated and entertained. To make sure that this is attained, a FORD-People government will endeavour to implement the following:

▪ Expand the mandate of the Communications Commission of Kenya and give it flexibility to regulate emerging communications technologies and ensure service provision across the country.

▪ Empower it to ensure that the media disseminates positive cultural information about Kenyan communities.

▪ Provide for the training of media professionals to world standards

▪ Redefine public service broadcasting including breadth and quality of output, and control the broadcasting of sexually explicit programs and others that negatively impact on the psycho-social well-being of children and the youth

▪ Legislate on cross-media ownership to ensure it is not concentrated in the hands of a few individuals.

▪ Encourage artists and artistic diversity as artists play a major role in modelling the lives of the youth.

▪ Encourage positive artistic output through self regulation and specific sanctions on negative and hate publicity.

▪ Use the media to have a positive role in society by showing more educative and informative programs.

▪ Invest in local libraries, galleries, theatres, museums and local cultural institutions.

▪ Encourage vernacular media.

(iii) Sports

Kenya is known the world over as a great sporting nation. Sports were traditionally interwoven in the cultural fabric of our communities. Therefore sports have a huge potential for unifying our people. Currently there is a lot of wrangling in sports and there appears to be no clear sports policy to guide the disciplines. Sports federations have been left largely on their own to fend for themselves even when doing national service. It is not uncommon to hear about exploitation of our sports people. Moreover, sports tourism remains largely untapped. To make Kenya a leading sports nation not only in Africa but also in the world. To realise this intention, a FORD-People government will undertake the following:

▪ Formulate an effective policy that will grow sports.

▪ Establish a sports institute do deal with matters appertaining to sports training, sports medicine and coaching.

▪ Enforce stringent management of sports finances and public facilities for effective sporting outcomes

▪ Create an independent professional body to nurture talent among our youth to benefit from sport for recreation and career purposes.

▪ Create and promote an enabling environment in which individuals or groups can excel in their respective sports.

▪ Fund the establishment and rehabilitation of open playgrounds for sports and recreational facilities in all communities which shall also serve to sensitize and educate the community on the role of sports in health and other relevant issues.

▪ Reposes all grabbed land that had been set aside for the development of communal sports and recreation facilities.

▪ Develop various sporting disciplines in a bid to identify and nurture talent at an early age.

▪ Closely liaise with sports organizations, schools and other learning institutions to incorporate physical education and sports in their programs.

▪ Use successful sports people as role models to encourage participation in sports and recreation.

▪ Create more opportunities for women to coach and manage their own teams.

▪ Safeguard against exploitation and abuse of sports people especially women in sports.

▪ Integrate people with disabilities into mainstream sports.

▪ Provide user-friendly sports facilities and equipment.

▪ Train special education teachers and technical personnel on sports.

▪ Establish veteran sports associations.

▪ Establish athlete of the year award in all categories of sports.