This, I must say today. The ministries responsible for culture across the forty-seven counties and at the national level have not fully understood their mandate. Abolish them if they do not shape up. I made this observation last weekend when I returned to my county of birth, Vihiga, as a guest speaker at the midterm review of the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).
As I reflected on the progress of devolution and the direction our counties are taking, I was struck by a deeper concern that goes beyond infrastructure, budgets and planning frameworks. It is the question of culture.
I am increasingly convinced that we are draining the public purse for a function whose mandate has been misunderstood. I say this not because culture is unimportant. No. But precisely because we have reduced it to something far smaller than it truly is.
Whenever the Ministry of Culture is mentioned, most people instinctively think of traditional dances, cultural festivals, museums, historical monuments, beadwork and carefully preserved artefacts displayed behind glass. They imagine elderly men and women dressed in traditional regalia, performing songs that evoke a disappearing past.
Valuable as these expressions are, they represent only a fraction of what culture truly means. We have, in effect, imprisoned culture in museums when it should be shaping our future. Let me explain.
This narrow understanding has had far-reaching consequences. It has reduced one of the most strategic ministries in government into what many perceive as a ceremonial department. It is only called upon during national celebrations and quickly forgotten in discussions on economic development, governance, education, innovation and national cohesion. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
It is this way of thinking that led us, perhaps unconsciously, to imagine that national development rests on three pillars: the economic, the social and the political. That is balderdash. In doing so, we forgot the most important pillar of all, the cultural pillar.
Look. Culture is not merely what we preserve; it is how we live. Every society operates within a cultural framework.
The way citizens queue for public transport, the honesty with which taxes are paid, the respect accorded to public institutions, the value attached to education, the manner in which leaders exercise authority, the work ethic in offices and attitudes toward corruption are all expressions of culture. Even the simple act of neighbours greeting one another is an aspect of culture. In short, culture is not an event. It is a way of life.
Indiscipline and impunity
If one seeks the most visible expression of our cultural contradictions, one need not look far. Our roads offer a sobering reflection. Drivers who disregard traffic rules and law enforcement officers who, most of the time, turn enforcement into an opportunity for bribery reveal something deeper than mere indiscipline. They expose a cultural crisis in which rules are negotiable.
We have failed to recognise culture as a foundational pillar and cultivated a society of indiscipline and impunity. When we struggle with corruption, the problem is not merely legal; it is cultural. When citizens destroy public property during demonstrations, the issue is cultural.
In the same vein, when examination cheating becomes normalised, public officers demand bribes without shame and littering becomes acceptable, we are witnessing the consequences of a bad culture. These are not simply failures of law enforcement. They reveal deeper cultural fractures.
We must be honest with ourselves. No nation develops without cultivating a culture that supports development. It is therefore not enough to speak of Kenya as a great nation. No. That is a lie. We are not yet a great nation. We are a nation with the potential to become great.
History offers instructive lessons. Japan did not become an economic giant merely through technology. It nurtured a culture of discipline, precision, punctuality and collective responsibility. Singapore consciously cultivated values of integrity, efficiency and respect for public institutions.
In short, development follows culture. Our tragedy is that we are pursuing economic transformation without cultural transformation. That is why we are investing heavily in roads, railways, hospitals and digital infrastructure while neglecting the values that should enable us to use these resources responsibly. We construct magnificent buildings but fail to build the culture required to sustain them.
For this reason, the Ministry of Culture should occupy a far more strategic position within government. Its mandate should extend beyond the preservation of heritage. It should become the nation’s chief architect of values.
It should champion honesty, responsibility, innovation, environmental stewardship, volunteerism, civic pride, reading culture and respect for diversity. These are not abstract ideals. They are the cultural foundations upon which prosperous nations are built.
Culture is also an economic resource. Film, music, literature, theatre, fashion, design, digital content, gaming, cuisine and cultural tourism are no longer peripheral activities. Around the world, they generate billions of dollars and employ millions of young people. A vibrant cultural sector is not a luxury. It is an economic asset. Nations today export not only manufactured goods but also stories, music, languages, fashion and ideas.
It is time to redefine what we mean by culture. We must stop thinking of it as something anchored in the past. Culture belongs equally to the future. It determines whether our children become innovators or imitators and whether our institutions command respect or ridicule.
Folks, culture is not what hangs in our museums. Culture is what lives in our hearts, guides our choices, shapes our institutions and ultimately determines the kind of nation we become.
