Posted in Press Release
The Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. William Ruto officially opened the 2nd edition of the East African Community Arts and Culture Festival (Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival - JAMAFEST) yesterday at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) Nairobi, Kenya.
The Deputy President, who represented His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, urged the Partner States, through the Council of Ministers, to nurture arts and culture in the region by developing appropriate policies, strategies and programmes that address the creative industry in a holistic manner and tap into the abundant talents in the region.
He said the EAC Partner States in line with the Common Market Protocol must develop strategies through which the region can benefit from this lucrative trade opportunity to realise development gains while fostering, protecting and promoting the creative economy in the region.
The Guest of Honour further urged the Council of Ministers to be passionate about Sports and Cultural sectors by allocating enough resources for championing activities that bring the East African common citizens together.
“These activities, which are really close to the hearts of our common citizens, include festivals of this nature as well as sports and games competitions in all major disciplines”.
His Excellency Ruto said convening and hosting the 2nd edition of JAMAFEST in Nairobi was a big leap forward in creating social understanding among the East African people, who have common identity, aspirations and destiny; adding that “We need to use our arts and culture to creatively tell the East African story”.
The Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, Hon. Phyllis Kandie, who represented the Council of Ministers, disclosed that in an effort to strengthen the capacity of cultural actors, the Community will be focusing on facilitating and supporting the harmonisation of cultural policies and legislations within the region in order to create a conducive policy environment for transfer of knowledge, exchange of expertise and best practices among cultural actors in both the private and public sectors.
The Cabinet Secretary reiterated that the Council of Ministers recognises the important role that Culture and Sports play towards reinforcing the spirit of East African unity and development and galvanising a passionate, visionary and broad participation among the East African people, reflecting the basic principle of a people-centered regional integration.
The Secretary-General of the East African Community Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera said that although Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki is a political project, the region’s unity would ultimately not be achieved through politics, but through culture.
Amb. Sezibera further noted that the bloc’s creative industry happens to be one of the most rapidly growing sectors in East Africa not only in terms of income generation (it is a 2 billion dollar industry), but also employment creation, as well as export trade. “Human creativity and innovation are the key drivers of the creation of wealth of households and countries in the 21st century. Our Community is no different”, asserted Amb. Sezibera.
The Secretary-General reiterated that culture enables development and contributes to the region’s national economies through investments in identity, innovation and creativity, adding that “culture can help build new development pathways for individuals, communities and countries - and, in contra distinction to growth based on natural resources, it contributes to equity - across gender, generations, regions, and countries”.
Contingents of cultural workers, artists from all the five Partner States of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda, and the Nairobi public are taking part in the week-long JAMAFEST under the theme; unleashing the economic potential of cultural and creative industries in the EAC. The festival website is: jamafest2015.eac.int.
Posted in Press Release
The 4th East African Community University Students’ Debate on EAC regional integration is set for 7-8th September 2015 in Kampala, Uganda.
This year’s debate will focus on values, ethics and leadership which are critical in advancing the broad aims of the EAC integration with the youth as key stakeholders. These three virtues are vital in moulding the choices that the youth make by imparting in them the desired morals such as integrity and accountability that are crucial for an integrated East Africa.
The debate aims to, among other things, promote continuous youth participation in EAC integration issues; encourage networking among university students to enhance regional integration; prepare the youth for future leadership roles, and; to popularize the EAC integration agenda.
To propose or oppose the motion, six participants are drawn from public and private universities from each of the five Partner States. However, participation in the debate is limited to students who are in their second year at the university pursuing a degree.
Interested applicants with good analytical and communication skills, and a good command of English are encouraged to apply. The debate will be conducted in English.
The debating session will be in three sets, each for one hour whereby the proposing team and the opposing team will debate. There will be room for rebuttals as well as intervention by the audience, for which each team will respond to. Each debating session will be concluded by a wrap up by the panelist or the interveners.
The top two teams will have rebuttals so as to get the winning team. The final decision will be made by the judges after consultations with the interveners, the moderator and timekeepers.
The best debaters will be appointed as EAC Youth Ambassadors 2015 / 2016 with an obligation to spearhead peer-to-peer learning in their respective universities in collaboration with the EAC Secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly and Ministries of EAC Affairs in the Partner States. There will be a gala dinner where cash prizes will be given to the best debaters and the winning team.
Representatives from academia, private sector, civil society, media and technocrats from the East African region will attending the event to listen to the debates and comment on the strength of the deliberations and also recommend a way forward for the debate.
The gala dinner which will be officiated by the Secretary-General of the EAC, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera, will mark the climax of the debating forum.