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"id": 661071,
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"content": "The irony for many Africans countries, including Kenya, is that we have been caught between our traditional cultures and modernity. Our understanding with the introduction of Christianity is that when you follow modernity, you should not follow culture. This Bill entrenches the realization that for us to know where we are going, we must understand our cultures, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. When the Anglican Church stands strongly in saying that it is against the African culture to have homosexuals within our African cultures, it is taken as given. This is something we understand and can defend from a particular type of context. We must not be caught up in our transition to follow cultures of others that we do not understand, because that is where many people get lost. This Bill advocates for the documentation of all cultural practices. Documenting all these cultural practices will be a lot of work so that it can be understood and for people to narrate about them. Definitely, a team will have to come to the fore to put all these together, have a library and an archive. I heard Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. talking about a museum. In some countries, you will find everything put together. But sometimes you get disappointed when you get fragmented information in a museum. The other day I went to watch the play Mekatilili wa Menza and was amazed. I have watched the story of Mekatilili, the Giriama heroine who many times is forgotten. She stood up against colonial masters and fought; she is recognized historically. The way they brought this play out made me feel so proud that I am a descendant of Mekatilili. When we stand up and have the bravery, forthrightness and foresight that she had, we begin to feel the strength to move on. At the Coast, we have the kishutu, which is distinctively for the Mijikenda, just the same way we have the shuka from the Maasai. Many people are now buying them and making outfits from them. Recently, we had the Kishutu Night at the Carnivore Restaurant to raise money for development in the Coast. It was a theme that brought us together. We have to be careful every time we talk about communities coming together. We should not look at it as something divisive vis-à-vis another community. We need to get to a point in Kenya where I, from one community, can appreciate something else from another community. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am talking about the mahandu, the skirt that is worn by Giriama women, which is fantastic and beautiful. However, as the Senator who spoke before me said, most of these dresses have not been patented. We had to struggle for the vigango from the Coast that had been taken to museums abroad to be brought back to Kenya. We need to fight for the Kayas in the Coast, which are sacred places within the forest, where people go to commune with their gods. It is very important to ensure that no encroachment takes place within such sacred places. As the Bill proposes, all those places have to be documented to protect the knowledge, riddles, folklore and stories. However, even as we do that because of the younger generation, it is important to re-enact what happened. Sometime back it was very popular to have the different ethnic community nights of celebration, which have now slowed down. We should revamp that so that we have a Coast Night, Kamba Night, Kalenjin Night, Kikuyu Night and many more community nights, so that we enjoy the music and food from the specific communities that we come from. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}