Walter Menya
12 November 2009
Nairobi — The government has defended plans to build a Sh112 million cultural centre in honour of US President Barack Obama at his ancestral home in Kogelo.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture Prof Jacob ole Miaron described as misleading reports in sections of the press that the plan was a waste of public funds.
According to the PS, the move was in line with the Kenya National Policy on Culture and Heritage that has been approved by the Cabinet.
"A key statement in this Policy is the commitment by the government to partner with the private sector to create an enabling environment for the development of the cultural industries in line with the overall economic development blueprint of the Vision 2030," Prof ole Miaron observed.
The centre, the PS added, would also provide an avenue of wealth distribution as well as promote intra- and intercultural dialogue for national integration and cohesion as envisioned in the policy.
"The Ministry has observed that Kenyan communities are developing in parallel to each other with very little cultural interaction. This has allowed this void to be filled with stereotyping bordering on ethnic hatred," he stated while defending the project.
According to the PS, the government set aside Sh40 million towards the construction of cultural centres including Kogelo Leadership and Cultural Centre.
"On completion, the Kogelo Cultural Centre will have an auditorium, library and a leadership centre."
The centre, he added, would allow the Ministry to play an important role in development, promotion and support of creative cultural industries that have potential for employment and wealth creation towards meeting the economic pillar of Vision 2030.
The government, he further disclosed, had an ambitious plan to develop community cultural centres in all constituencies, construct a state-of-the-art international arts and cultural centre, museums, national art gallery, national hall of fame for honouring heroes among others.
"I wish to reiterate that the ministry will continue to promote the identification and certification of cultural homes in each community including Kogelo that can provide cultural experiences for both domestic and international tourists as outlined in the Vision 2030 under the tourism flagship programmes."
The Kogelo cultural centre is meant to attract a large number of tourists from across the globe interested in seeing the ancestral home of the man who overcame racial barriers to become the president of the world's most powerful nation.
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