The Kenya National Music festivals that started yesterday at the Dedan Kimathi University in Nyeri County provide a deserved break from the rigors of a rigid academic calendar. The festival’s theme: “Enhancing National Unity, Cohesion and Integration” couldn’t be more apt as it captures the wishes of the people of Kenya.
The joviality that normally accompanies such festivities was dampened by Saturday’s accident that claimed the lives of ten pupils of St Gabriel Boarding Primary School in Mwingi County. Understandably, parents and guardians will be concerned with the safety of their children as they travel to Nyeri for the two week event.
Co-curricular activities are a vital component in learning that should be encouraged, particularly because, at the end of the day, they are essential to molding a well-rounded individual. All work and no play, as it is said, make Jack a dull boy. The interactions that participants at such events get go a long way in making them appreciate the diversity and richness of our cultures. It is through understanding and appreciating this diversity that we develop respect for each other.
Besides, it is through such events that talent can be identified and nurtured in line with the government’s pledge on the same. Through such events, we can effectively fight the ogre of negative ethnicity that unscrupulous leaders use to drive wedges between Kenyan communities.
The logistics behind the Nyeri event, hosting over 120000 participants, cannot be taken for granted, but all said and done, the safety and security of participants should be top of the agenda.
