The on-going Turkana Cultural Festival is one of the best events to happen in Kenya in the recent past, as far as preservation of culture is concerned.
The Turkana cultural festival was officially opened by Turkana Governor Hon. Koli Nanok, who is also the chairman of the Council of Governors.
First lady Margaret Kenyatta also graced the opening of the 3 day festival happening at Ekalees center.
The festival, dubbed, “Tobong’u Lore” started on April, 19 and is expected to close on Saturday, April, 21.
The festival is its fourth edition. It is aimed at celebrating the culture of Turkana people.
Turkana people have a very rich culture which, unlike other Kenyan cultures, is still preserved.
They are still proud to wear their traditional outfits and don their traditional accessories.
Our culture is our identity.
We should protect it and preserve it.
We should be proud of it.We should flaunt it.
The fact that Turkana governor is in the forefront to celebrate Turkana culture is really motivating as well as uplifting.
This should open more discourse on the state of our culture and what we can do to protect and preserve it.
Just like the County of Turkana set aside close to Kshs 60 Million for the festival, other counties can also budget for their various respective cultural festivals.
Our culture also brings in a lot of revenue through foreign exchange.
Many tourists are drawn by our unique cultural practices.
When they come to interact with us and get to learn more about our culture, we stand to benefit a lot.
Those who make accessories like bangles, hats, earrings etc. get to make some money from their craft.
We should see a replica of the Turkana cultural festival happening in all the 47 Counties.
I know the annual Somali Cultural Festival is around the corner.
Let us come in large numbers and support our Somali brothers.
Through such interactions, we get to learn more about our neighbour's culture.
This cultural exchange programmes will go a long way in ending tribalism.