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{
    "id": 400549,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/400549/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 469,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Committee and Members present very much, especially for accepting the amendment that I brought. That amendment is the highlight of this Bill; it marks a new day for Kenyans involved in the film, arts and entertainment industry. We know our young people in this country have immense talent. We have seen them. We have seen some of their shows. We watch them on Churchill Show and I am sure even in the constituencies and villages we have seen what young people can do. However, for a long time these young people have not been able to access coverage, whether on television or radio. Hon. Speaker, now the Bill that we have passed explicitly provides that at least 45 per cent of the content that will be aired by a licensed broadcaster must promote local talent, and that local talent must be broadcast between 6.00 a.m. and 10.00 p.m. We know that for a long time, a lot of local content is broadcast after midnight; during the rest of the day we are only watching Aleandro or N ollywood Nigeria . I am confident that with the talent in this country, Kenya will compete ably with Nollywood and Riverwood. We can even use this to actually showcase the culture of this country. Hon. Speaker, in many other jurisdictions like in Canada, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria they have 80 per cent local content in radio and 60 per cent on television. The same applies to Israel and South Africa; that has attracted a lot of investment. It has even made their film and arts industry grow so much that South Africa has become the destination of choice for international movie makers. I think from this point onwards we will be hopeful that Kenya will become the destination of choice. We have a lot more to show and our young people can get employed and make a living out of the talents and skills that God has given them. Hon. Speaker, I would also like to point out that even the few local productions that have been making it have had the highest ratings. So, those who had fears that due to commercial interests media houses would not want to show local content, if you look at the ratings shows like Churchill Show, Papa Shirandula, Tusker Project Fame(TPF),Tujuane and Tahidi High actually have the highest ratings. If you look at the young men and women who participate in these shows, their lives have actually been changed. Some of them are now driving vehicles. They are earning salaries and a livelihood; really, we are growing the culture of this country. Also, hon. Speaker, I would like to point out that in economics most times we say supply credit is on demand. Once this quota of 45 per cent is assured, the media houses will actually invest in the industry – invest and co-produce with young people to make sure that actually we have good quality. This is because the issue of quality might come up and people might say we do not have the right quality. Indeed, this is the first step and I know that within the next 18 months we will have had enough investment in the music industry and film industries; our young people will be able to walk with their heads high. Thank you, hon. Speaker."
}