Kenyan creatives petition government for ministry

“With all due respect Your Excellency," reads the petition, "our sector cannot be reduced to Heritage. "

It continues: "Heritage is based on a historical value, something that is handed down from the past, as a tradition (a national heritage of honor, pride, and courage) and is a component of culture. Based on this fact, we cannot have culture as a department within the Ministry of Sports & Heritage. It is the general feeling of all the stakeholders in the creative sector that a Ministry specific to Arts & Culture is created."

In an exclusive interview with Music In Africa, Martin Munyua, filmmaker and secretary of the Kenya Film & Television Professionals Association (KFTPA) explained the rationale behind the move. He admits that the discussion about separating arts and culture from the Ministry of Sports has been held at various forums.

According to him sports will always overshadow the creative industries, as Kenyan sportsmen are known internationally, bringing in recognition for the country and large amounts of revenue through sponsorships and taxes. On the other hand, arts & culture is seen as a hobby, a recreation of sorts and not a business. Therefore, when making out annual budgets within the same ministry, sports always gets more than arts & culture.

“To be honest, right now, our hopes are very dim as we both know that the cabinet must have been formed during and immediately after the campaign, not to mention over a period of 5 year Jubilee has been in power with various sectors/industries lobbying for their own benefits and policies," Munyua said. "Indeed, our response has been more of a ‘reaction” as opposed to an action-based lobbying mechanism so as to get our own ministry.”

“We have worked closely with Government and have achieved many strides because of this. Now is the time to consolidate these gains,” said secretary general of Riverwood Ensemble Filmmakers Association. “We shouldn't turn our backs on this growth with all its resultant economic and social benefits.”

Across board, stakeholders of the arts and cultures have felt general government apathy towards their agenda. During the just concluded budget hearing, the creative’s where given a very small window to present their case. DJ Shock, founder of the Association of DJs of East Africa (ADJ EA), attended the meeting and expressed her disappointment.

“It was more of a government event," she said. "Creatives didn’t really show up. We also didn’t feel the commitment from the government. They were very casual about the creative sector and they didn’t really take us serious maybe because it is currently not a major tax bracket. However we must look at the sector from a potential perspective. If we support it, it could become a major earner for the government and the whole country as a whole."

It remains to be seen if the new petition will finally get the government to take the creative sector seriously.