Posts Tagged ‘NTV’
By Muli wa Kyendo
If, you are in Kenya and have a secret to help your friend to become a president, don’t do it. If you do, remember that tomorrow, when he is the president, you will be his target for elimination. That is the wisdom that informs our political class.
When Kenyans were oppressed by the dictatorship of former president Daniel arap Moi, the media became the focal point for the campaign to remove him from power. The media galvanized the opposition and pressured them to unite under former Vice President Mwai Kibaki—a man who had tried many times before to become president and failed. The media dressed him up and shepherded him into power.
But who became the biggest enemy, to Mwai Kibaki, the president? The media!
Ever since coming into power Mwai Kibaki and his entire family have been at war with the media. Kibaki has, at every opportunity, brought in laws that are against the media. The wife, Lucy Kibaki, has even walked into newsrooms in the dead of the night and dismantled cameras and other equipment, slapping journalists she didn’t like. The culmination was the night attack of the Standard newspapers and Kenya Television Network (KTN, Kenya’s second largest media house) by hooded hooligans in 2006. They disabled broadcasting equipment and burned newspapers.
Last year, in the General Elections, the opposition, led by Mr. Raila Odinga, posed as the best alternative to the Kibaki regime. The media once again came out in Raila’s support. And even when he was “rigged out” by the Kibaki regime, the media stood by him, forcing Kibaki to agree to share power with Raila. Now Raila is the powerful Prime Minister.
And now that he is in power, Raila, too, has joined Kibaki to oppress the media. The new Media Bill which allows the government to dismantle equipment belonging to “hostile” media houses, and to open individual letters and intercept emails, was passed by the two men! And not surprisingly, the two have remained mum even when chaos occur in front of their noses.
The media will have to look elsewhere, not upon these two men, if they are to survive.
By Muli wa Kyendo
For nearly 15 years now, I have been among those in the forefront, urging the Kenya government to develop local cultures as important component of tourism. But seventy years of colonialism had taught Kenyans to frown upon African cultures. That is why it is refreshing to see a new enthusiasm among Kenyans-the government included—to promote local cultures.
I was thrilled to watch on the NTV, youthful “film-makers”, determined to compete despite what they say is unequal playing ground with the West Africans film makers. “West African films are smuggled into the country. Smugglers don’t pay taxes. So they undercut our prices,” one film-maker lamented. But they are soldiering on, convinced that Kenyan culture can make a mark in Africa and beyond.
Riverwood
And as there is Hollywood in the USA and Bollywood in Bombay, India, so the Kenyans have their Riverwood. Like in America and India, the name originates from River Road, the area of Nairobi in which the “film making industry” is located. It’s a historically colorful area, about which most Kenyans have many fond memories.
In the colonial time, River Road, one of the longest streets in our capital city, divided the so-called European areas to the north and the African locations to the south. Along the street was the terminus of most of the significant buses coming from upcountry. Among these was the ubiquitous East African Road Services with its a “towering” 5-storey building headquarters. Next to it was a famous stage for the City Buses, then known as the Kenya Bus Services. A few meters away was the so-called Machakos Airport. It was, and still is, the nickname of the city’s bustling country bus terminus.
The Legacy of River Road
With all this, it isn’t surprising that the River Road, named after the Nairobi River across which it runs, became synonymous with Nairobi to the African. It was the street every African who travelled to the city must know and the street every African who lived in the city must know. It was the meeting place. Indeed, in the 1960s, the street was so famous that many musicians made money with popular songs about one aspect or another of the street. The late Daudi Kabaka’s “Nielezeni River Road Nyuma na Mbele” (Tell Me Where River Road Starts and Ends) and the late John Mwale’s “Msichana wa Marashi” about meeting a stunningly beautiful girl he met in River Road, are some of the best known. Kenyan novelist Meja Mwangi, named his popular novel Going Down River Road after the street.
There isn’t therefore, a better place to locate a film industry than River Road.
13 Cultural Centres
The government, on its part, has now announced plans to help in the establishment of 13 cultural centers around the country in an initial program of 19 cultural centers in a renewed strengthening of local cultures. Already the government, according to its reports, has spent more than Kenya Sh22 million (about US$370,000) to establish three cultural centers located in the eastern, western and coast provinces.
“The African setting is changing rapidly every day. Through these cultural centers, we hope to create an enabling environment for the new generations to learn local cultures and to realize their full cultural potential,” the director for culture Mr. Silverse Anami was quoted by the Daily Nation newspaper as having said.
Neglected Blueprint
In 1994, our group consisting of eight cultural organizations that included the Syokimau Cultural Centre, of which I am the Director, drafted a cultural policy for the country which today gathers dust in some government office. Our argument then was that tapping the country’s rich cultural background, packaging it and modernizing it would go a long way in encouraging tourism, a key component of the Kenyan economy. It is the same argument the film makers are advancing. It’s the same argument the government is advancing.
The Appeal
My appeal is to Kenyans in the diasporas to help spread Kenyan culture wherever they are. We shall earn the respect of others only when we begin to respect ourselves. You can write to us with any queries and we shall do our best to respond.
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