How our local artists have lost big after missing Uhuru's US summit tour

As the Uhuru Kenyatta and Akon photos taken during their meeting at the US-African Summit in Washington started stirring a debate here in Nairobi, a little controversy surrounding the same tour was brewing. Three weeks before the tour, Kenyan artistes were lobbying to be part of the Kenyan delegation with the names of Jaguar, Sauti Sol, Juliani, Nameless, Ringtone and our Nigerian export Emmy Kosgei coming up. The idea never went far. Instead, the government opted for influential business men who were part of President Kenyatta's delegation. Unlike Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania had lobbied to have their artistes attend and even perform during the summit in a deal that involved the One Campaign, an international, nonpartisan, non-profit, advocacy and campaign organisation that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease particularly in Africa. Names of celebrated stars from Nigeria like D'Banj, Femi Kuti and Omawumi, AY from Tanzania, Buffalo Souldjah from Zimbabwe, Wax Dey from Cameroon, Judith Sephuma from South Africa and Fally Ipupa from DRC were listed. Clearly, Kenyan artistes were not in the mix. This was the largest gathering any US president has ever held with African Heads of State and government and the significance in which was the poverty and youth unemployment agenda was unquestionable and with celebrities like Juliani being one of the key ambassadors pushing for the farming agenda in Kenya, how would we imagine seeing his name missing in this list? However, the shocker came through the revelation that Victoria Kimani, she of the Mtoto hit was actually headed to US for the same summit through a different plane. The news wasn't a fluke! That Friday when the African artistes were being introduced at the summit, she appeared alongside Nigerian artistes as a Nigerian singer. She looked gorgeous and happy standing alongside the likes of D'Banj, away from the Kenyan delegation. It is said Victoria Kimani plotted the surprise through her Nigerian label, Chocolate City, the music stable said to have organised her visit. On Monday this week, the Kenyan singer appeared alongside the Nigerian artistes in a show that featured in MTVbase Africa that is known to promote the Nigerian showbiz industry. As Pulse was going to press, most of the African artistes who had gone to the US were still there, most of them sealing business deals as they met international stables and other individuals who influence the entertainment industry, worldwide. Needless to say, this outing was an eye opener for them, a trip that presents to them opportunities and a great edge against the Kenyan outfit, which is now struggling to keep up with the standards posed by Nigeria and frontrunners, South Africa. The government has been pointing its commitment to assist the creative industry get up its feet. We have heard of the pledges and anxiously hoped that youthful government appointees like Bruce Odhiambo who now heads the powerful Youth Enterprise Development Fund would breathe some fresh life on the entertainment industry, which is largely composed of youth. But if an opportunity like the one that has just bypassed us continues to be elusive, how on earth will we ever catch-up with what the rest of African artistes are doing? If it is hard to confine workshops for artistes like we saw in Tanzania when the president organised for international speakers to come educate local artistes on entrepreneurship, how will we ever tap the advantages available in what has been said to be a billion dollar sector? If it takes a Nigerian stable to come and make a difference in the Kenyan music industry and market Victoria Kimani in America, then surely something must be wrong with us. Something must be done! Someone is sleeping on the job!