By George Orido and Beatrice Obwocha

The annual Kenya National Schools and Colleges Music Festival opens on Tuesday in Nakuru with nearly 100,000 pupils and students expected to attend.

The ten-day event will be held in nine venues across the town, which include Lions Primary School, Melvin Jones Academy as well as Menengai High School.

Jamhuri, Christ The King and Lohanna Hall will be the other venues that will see presentations of traditional songs, dances, instrumentation and poems presented from all eight provinces of the country.

According to the Executive Secretary Benson Abwao, the theme for this year is ‘Fostering National Pride and Patriotism’.

New constitution

"This could not have come at a more apt moment when Kenya is going through a process of rebirth with the new Constitution," he explained.

The South Rift Provincial Director of Education Beatrice Adu said security had been tightened at all venues and in the areas where participants will be staying.

She said extra police officers have been deployed to the various boarding schools in Nakuru, Njoro and Gilgil where pupils and students will be spending their nights to ensure that they are safe.

Adu added that security personnel had firm instructions to ensure participants did not engage in illegal activities like drinking of alcohol. She said hawkers and food vendors would have limited access to the venues because organisers had discovered that in the past, these individuals took advantage to sell drugs and other illegal substances to the students.

The expected huge turnout of students has been attributed to the free primary education and subsidised secondary tuition that has enabled resources to be pumped to the annual fete.

By Monday afternoon, tens of school buses had started arriving in Nakuru for the event that will be officially opened by Rift Valley PC Osman Warfa.

Tapping talent

Arguably the largest music event in East and Central Africa, the festival is geared towards tapping young talented performers still in school.

In addition, the festival organisers hope to instill good leadership skills among the youth and encourage positive values in them.

The finalists will perform in a music gala and if past tradition is anything to go by, then the winners will perform for President Kibaki at State House.

Mumias Sugar Company will fund the festival to a tune of Sh7 million.