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{
"id": 1520582,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1520582/?format=api",
"text_counter": 176,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Siaya County, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Christine Ombaka",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to what is very important in our lives; a Bill that deals with culture and definition of culture. What is culture? It is a way of life as lived by a people at a particular time in history. It is the language we speak, the song we sing, the dress we wear, the food we eat, and the sports we engage in. Everything about our lives is culture, but the main definition is that it is a way of life as lived by a people at a particular time in history. This means that culture evolves. It is dynamic and, thus, changes from time to time. Our forefathers had their own culture, which has since changed. We have acquired new culture and dropped the old one. We have also acquired new methods of survival. Language also dies and once that happens, that culture ceases to exist. It is important to realise that culture is our identity. If it dies, we also die. Culture is cardinal. It is in our lives. It is part and parcel of us. It is in our gene that if it is absent, we are not human beings. Our cultures, especially for African and Kenyan tribes (all the 45 tribes) are very important. Unfortunately, they were interfered with in the past through colonialism. They are still being interfered with even now. Our culture is still changing. It is not as it was in the past. However, we need to preserve our culture because it is our identity. We will be the laughing stock if we do not preserve our culture. If I lose my Dholuo language, where will I belong to? What will people think of me? Our children are losing our culture, but we do not seem to care. We do not give a hoot about the language that our children speak today. They mix up English, Kiswahili and a bit of their local language. Sometimes, they speak pure American English and yet, they cannot even utter the words, ‘ Asante sana’ . They cannot speak Kiswahili because they speak the European languages. As parents, we have also failed to preserve the culture of our people because we enjoy seeing our children speak British or American English. We have tried in this country to preserve culture through the museums that we have. But, unfortunately, again, they have been made shallow. I was a member of the Departmental Committee on Sports and Culture in the last Parliament, and we had a chance to visit a number of museums. It was shameful to see how shallow and empty they were. There was nothing that would indicate the culture of our people. They were scanty, too old and torn apart. We need to create or come up with what we can show to our children as part of what is in the museum. The museums do not have the right things. They are too old and broken apart and nobody seems to put money there to ensure that they have items and artefacts that are required for our understanding of the past. The school system has tried because we normally have school music and drama festivals. Those are events that help us nurture the past and bring it out. Our children wear traditional clothes as they sing in the competitions. However, it is just for competition and the story is over. We do not carry it forward. Do we care about the clothes that we used to wear in the past, and keep them or preserve them somewhere in the museums? It is just for events, say, one or two days and it is over. Unfortunately, we do not celebrate our culture. We need to do that constantly. We also have Heroes Day in this country. We celebrate our heroes and other people of the past. We remember what they did for us, and how great men and women they were. Indeed, we celebrate them. At least, there we conquer. We have done well because every year we celebrate the great men and women of this country, of the past and the present. They have done marvellously well. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}