Kenyan govt invites creative sector to budget hearing

The sitting presents an opportunity for the arts and culture sector to get funding from the 2018 national budget and is part of the annual national budgetary process as prescribed by the Kenya Constitution, which requires public participation. Under the provisions, the government is obligated to give the public an opportunity to give suggestions on budget allocations and all other fiscal policies.

Previous engagements with the government have been fruitful and members of the creative community are optimistic about the upcoming budget hearing.

The social protection, culture and recreation sectors have been slotted in to be part of the hearing on Thursday from 2 to 3.30pm, but cultural activist and HEVA Fund managing partner George Gachara says the allocated time could prove to be too short.

“I think it’s a really small window because one hour is not enough for the entire social protection, culture and recreation sectors,” Gachara, who has extensive experience in resource development and governance, told Music In Africa.

“However, previous engagements with the government have borne much fruit. We have seen film, fashion, performance arts and music given priority in the national and county budgets.” 

Last year, structured engagements between the central government and the creative sector resulted in noteworthy results. These included a statement on the Safaricom-Skiza payment, a film bill and policy, a music policy and the Kenya Cultural Centre Act. The ripple effect of the aforementioned developments has been felt in county governments, with Machakos, Turkana and Kajiado developing various cultural facilities. Numerous counties have also begun organising beauty pageants and talent shows that are mainstreaming culture and providing numerous performance opportunities for artists.

In a similar sitting last year, players in the creative economy came out to encourage the government to expand funding beyond recurring expenditure. Most of the money had been earmarked for renovation efforts of films schools, the refurbishing the public libraries, licensing and distribution.

Industry players felt that the creative economy needed more capacity building programmes directed towards artists and the support systems around them. This included development programmes for amateurs and practice spaces for live bands, among others. Even though not all recommendations were fully implemented, a few saw the light of day. Most significant was a suggestion to tax the gaming industry and allocate the funding to infrastructure programmes in the cultural and recreational sectors. The tax has been in place since June 2017 and the push is now on the management and allocation of funds.

“It was the first time that the government levied an earmarked tax targeting the sports sector,” Gachara said. “Estimated to raise an annual 4 to 13 billion Kenyan shillings [$39m to $127m], the funds were to be split between sports and arts. Since the amount is significant it can be used to build and repair infrastructure such as stadiums, which benefit both sectors.”

Because the creative economy is an interlinked ecosystem, the continued unified push for change has been beneficial to all subsectors such as fashion, film and music. This unified push has also made it easier to engage with government. Last year this resulted in the inclusion of the creative economy in the Medium Term Plan 2018-22, which is part of Kenya’s long-term development strategy.

“This year we are pushing for gaming and entertainment financing and the lowering of taxes on music equipment and software,” Gachara said.

“Our priority is direct programmes that nurture talent and offer performance platforms that fast-track artists to become international stars – programmes like what the Permanent Presidential Music Commission is doing with its Studio Mashinani boot camps around the country. Additionally, we are asking for more fashion and crafts markets, cultural festivals such as Turkana, Lamu and Lewa.”