Tobong' Lore! Spectacular display of tradition and culture at festival

Turkana Cultural Festival in Lodwar; the festival brings members of the community from neighbouring South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia, building cohesion and helping to prevent conflict through positive interaction. [PCS] It's late morning of Day One of the Turkana Tourism and Cultural Festival at the Ekalees Cultural Centre in the outskirts of Lodwar Town along Lodwar- Kerio road. A beautiful array of colours adorned in human frames have thronged the centre. The chinking and jingling of traditional wear of the Turkana reverberate across forming a melodious background to the official happenings. The heat is searing yet you can almost cut the clouds of excitement hanging loose over the fields. At the main entertainment centre where guests and the community are gathered, the vagaries of nature about this place have stripped everyone to their bares. Every other human body you pass or clash with exudes a fairly powerful waft of the natural body odour. Paired against the elements, the expensive cologne has very little use here. The original human smell has finally united everyone. At the main dais, traditional dances are being staged, one group after another. They are all warming up to entertain President William Ruto, who is touring the traditional villages. Every performance, though, fairs like the final act- heart throbbing, lively, and vivid. Except for his magnificent watch and sunglasses, the President, too, has been stripped of modernity. He's resplendent in a traditional hat with a jaunty ostrich plume, flowing herder's garb, a vest underneath, a customary neck adornment over it and akala shoes. Inside the huts, there is no respite for him either. They are naturally air-conditioned. Like everyone, he stoops and sits on traditional stools, is served on calabash bowls and stoops to make his way out of the small huts. A few minutes to noon, he makes his way into the entertainment centre with a walking stick in one hand and a traditional stool in the other. Once his entourage is on sight, the excitement in the crowd triples, the dust is raised, and plumes sway in the skyline. The most beautiful spectacle of human celebrations is about to officially begin. With the President, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai, Deputy Dr John Erus, Cabinet Secretaries Alfred Mutua, Aisha Jumwa, Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali and host MPs seated, the entertainment begins. One group after another takes the stage, wooing the gathering with the sways and shows. Different genres, from folklore tunes staged in Suguta Valley down the ages to modern gospel tunes and to exhortations for payment of taxes, the show is a blend of the past and the present. From the manner of his gaze, the President is clearly lost in the music. His aide, Farouk Kibet, moves up and about fixing one thing or another as communication director Wanjohi Githae repeatedly wipes an outpouring of sweat. With just a few groups done, the President signals the ever-alert Kibet, who quickly surges forward. He wants a combined performance of all groups, probably to make everybody feel the part, and save time too. Suddenly, the stage turns small as the President's party joins them in staging a "collabo" performance of a popular Turkana tune. As the sways of the white plumes decorate the stage, the expressiveness of the moment is just too plain to hide. That a community afflicted by so much adversity- banditry, famine, marginalisation- puts all that aside to celebrate themselves is perhaps the greatest testament that Turkana is indeed a special place on the world map. Delegations from neighbouring Ethiopia and Sudan speak. But it's the Chinese Deputy Ambassador, Mr Zhang Zhizhong, who brings home the poignancy of it all. "It's my honour to be here. I am a guest, but I do not feel like I am a guest because Turkana is the cradle of mankind. I am back home," he says as the crowds cheer him up. He ends his brief remarks with a plea that sounds like music to the ears of the locals: "All of the world's 8 billion people, each one of us should come to Turkana at least once in their lifetime." Kenya is generally known the world over as a hotbed of archaeological discoveries, but Turkana has claimed the title of "cradle of mankind". The county is home to the 1.6 million-year-old "Turkana Boy", the most complete skeleton of early hominids, among others. At the opening ceremony, politicians took turns to celebrate the spirit of the Turkana people but also to underscore their perils in the midst of harsh climatic conditions, insecurity and general under-development. When Laikipia County MP Jane Kagiri attempted to offer greetings and apologies of Turkana in her county, they shouted her down, betraying her cluelessness that they had trooped there for the event. "Thank you for acknowledging that you are indeed here," she retreated. CS Mutua championed the resolve to build world-class facilities in the lake basin to tap into the international tourism market. "I have travelled around, and I realised that people out there do not seem to know what we have to offer. We will now embark on serious, high-value marketing of our tourism offers," he promised. When he rose to speak, President Ruto celebrated the magnificence of the cultural celebration, saying he supports all forms of cultural expression. "Here, therefore, is humanity's original home, tobong' lore... welcome home," he declared, announcing plans to make Kenya a visa-free nation. At the Turkana Basin Institute exhibition stand in Ekalees Cultural Centre, a sizable crowd is slowly bulging and soon bursts at the seams. On display are fossils discovered in the basin, now arranged to tell the story of human evolution. The locals want to understand their much-acclaimed ancestry. They are pushing and shoving for a better view of the 1.6 million-year-old skull of the inimitable Turkana Boy. The Institute staff are doing their very best to explain the story of evolution in simple terms. But the inquisitive locals keep at it, digging further and further: "Does it, therefore, mean that there might be another wave of evolution, that we might grow into something else unless we are careful?" a young man poses to the official. She explains the process is a slow, incognito one. They inquire about the correlation between the human skull and the gorilla skull placed by. Her explanation that humans and apes share 99 per cent DNA profiles drops their jaws. I am waiting for them to ask why we still have gorillas if humans are guerilla graduates when one of the orderlies shouts, "Mnazuia mzungu." The locals had taken over their stand, and other guests had trouble accessing it. Contrast this exhibition to others, and the story begins to emerge of history's central place in human affairs. Turkana County Assembly's only exhibit was the assembly mace, the County Public Service Board's a humongous shiny trophy, while USAID exhibited hay. The Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia (LAPSSET) transport corridor exhibited raw maps. At the main entertainment centre, a dozen county first ladies in sparkling royal purple traditional clad made a triumphant entry of the day. Led by their host, Lilian Ekamais, and their chair, Alamitu Guyo (Marsabit), they moved in grace and occupied the front row of the VIP dais. They fanned their faces as groups took to the stage to entertain the guests. Occasionally, they would troop in a single file to jam to the drum beats and sway to the sounds. A few minutes past one, opposition leader Raila Odinga makes a dramatic entry in traditional wear. The crowds gave a rousing welcome to his entourage, which included Martha Karua, Eugene Wamalwa, Peter Munya and Mwangi wa Iria. For what was clearly an ODM zone, Iria had to sit between the ODM Governor and the ODM leader. What had been a beautiful celebration and display of culture begins to degenerate as tension takes over. Neither Raila nor the governor wants to join each other in dancing sessions. Roots Party leader George Wajackoya arrived sporting a clownish smile and was widely applauded, calming the place down. At 2:58pm, the Murungi had just taken a selfie with the affable Tranzoia County Executive Chanelle Kittony when hell broke loose. One side of the weary crowds surged forward, forcing guests to flee in all directions before order was restored. Speeches resumed, and Turkana Central ward rep Ruth Kuya braved the hostile section of the crowd to serve it raw on the ODM leader: "We loved you like Jesus but you treated us like the devils. You denied us all the nominations but gave your daughter," she claimed. On this trajectory on and on, it didn't take long before disorder resumed, and Raila and his entourage opted out of the festival to save the day. The governor apologised and said he did not invite Raila and blamed conspiratorial staff for the happenings. [Nzau Musau is a Senior Programmes Manager with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom]

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