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{
    "id": 1527468,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527468/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 224,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Why? For a long time, I have seen Kenyans trying to express themselves, their culture, their tribe, their ethnic background and sometimes it has not come out positively because it has been used to divide people. We now have legislation where culture can be expressed positively. Cultural differences can be expressed through the establishment of museums at the county level. For example, if a young Kenyan from the diaspora visits Murang’a County, they can tell how the Kikuyu community lived before 1900, using the concept of a museum that has preserved the culture and the livelihoods of a people. I hope when this legislation is finally enacted that counties will take advantage of it. I want to remember when the Senate went to Senate Mashinani in Turkana County. I watched the kind of dances that were presented, read the history of those traditional dances, and looked at the attire that was being used by the Turkana people and for a moment, my heart was captivated, especially by the outfits. Those outfits, if they are not preserved within the context of such legislation, in another 20 to 30 years, will be replaced by modern clothing and we will no longer remember how Turkana culture looked like or how the dances were being done. So, this is legislation which the Council of Governors (CoG) should take and ensure that it is implemented to the letter within the county context. I am also seeing Sen. Ledama has got back to his seat in the House. I am thinking about the very rich Maasai heritage and culture that has defined and given a brand to the nation of Kenya. We want to see Narok and Kajiado Counties and all the counties around Maasai land ensuring that every beadwork that has been done by the Maasai, handmade beadworks, the shield, the spears and the rung u that the Maasais use settled in certain very good museums in Narok County and Kajiado County. I see Sen. Ledama carrying that rungu, but for the harsh eye that comes from the Serjeant-at-Arms (SAA) at the Senate, he has not been allowed to bring it to the Chamber. These should be preserved so that when we are promoting our tourism, we can tell the World that they can come to Kenya and learn exactly how the Maasais have lived for the last 100 years on a platform of very good museums. I am thinking of some of the museums I have visited across the world as I have had an opportunity to travel, like Madame Tussauds Museum in London. If you visit the Madame Tussauds Museum, you will be amazed to see the kind of artefacts they have put in that museum and the kind of income that is being earned through the use of that museum. You will find the likes of the Former President of United States of America, Barack Obama, together with the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, very well sculptured within the Madame Tussauds. You can read the history of the whole of United Kingdom (UK) and Britain following that museum. Every year they will show you who was the king in 1895 and who moved on to 1900. If we were to take this concept of museum with the dedication, we would even have visitors streaming in. We must think of the artefacts that have been preserved in other jurisdictions like in Egypt where they have the pyramids. Millions of tourists flock Egypt and Cairo to see the pyramids. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we want to see Fort Jesus getting the kind of branding, marketing and know-how that people should have about the Fort Jesus and what it stood The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}