CS Ababu officiates the 95th edition of The National Music Festivals’ opening ceremony In Nyeri
CS Ababu Namwamba this morning presided over the 95th edition of the National Music Festivals, held at Dedan Kimathi University-Nyeri County. He was accompanied by the State Department for Youth Affairs and Arts PS Ismail Maalim Madey.
The festival, one of the biggest in Africa, brings together over 130, 000 pupils and students in the entire Kenya school ecosystem, for a week-long engagement aimed at showcasing the best talents in the creative arts.
The festivals are running on a Ksh. 143 million injection from the ministry, as part of the larger 267 million shillings extended by the ministry to aid in talent identification and nurturing in schools, in line with the #TalantaHela initiative.
The CS reaffirmed his ministry’s commitment to continue supporting talent identification, development, and nurturing with a view to building sustainable careers and livelihoods through talent.
He called for the recognition of the contribution of teachers who shape and mould the young talents in the school ecosystem.
“In the same way we reward teachers who post good results in academic subjects, we must also reward our teachers who train these gems to excel in their arts,” he quipped.
“We are all talented differently, some in education and others in the field of arts. We must, therefore, provide an equal platform for all our students to build careers out of their diverse God-given gifts.”
The CS announced that through the #TalantaHela initiative, top performers from the festivals will be afforded an opportunity to monetize their creative pieces and put #PesaMfukoni.
“As part of our talent monetization agenda, we will onboard some of the top performances from this festival, give them an opportunity and platform to perform in concert, so that they can earn from their creative pieces,” he said.
PS Ismail Maalim added that the National Music Festivals provided opportunities for the youth to exploit their talents fully, noting that the ministry in collaboration with the Education counterpart had set up a robust scouting network to identify top talents for monetization.
“Under the leadership of our CS, we are keen on the talent monetization agenda as espoused in our Talanta Hela initiative. We want to see our youth earning from their talents, and it is through such platforms that these talents are discovered,” he said.
The Chairperson of the National Music Festival Prof. Fred Ngala thanked the ministry for extending the financial support, noting that it had expanded the opportunities for school children across the country and given them a platform to showcase their talents.
“I wish to thank CS Ababu for showing great interest and support for the creatives in this country. The support from the ministry is a testament of the value that your leadership has placed on talents, as well as the desire to transform talents into livelihoods,” he said.
Over 3 million pupils and students have been involved in the festivals, right from the Sub-county levels.
And as is the norm with every event attended by the CS, he together with PS Maalim, took time to plant commemorative trees as part of the President’s 15 billion tree-growing agenda, to restore Kenya’s forest cover, towards mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.
