Museums need urgent solution, says Kibunjia

National Museums of Kenya (NMK) Director General Dr Mzalendo Kibunja and French Embassy Cultural and Cooperation Counsellor Jean-Pierre Tutin during a press conference announcing the world's oldest stone tools discovery in Turkana County on May 22, 2015. The 3.3 million-year-old tools were discovered at Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, by a Franco-Kenyan research team. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION

What you need to know:

  • Dr Kibunjia, himself an archaeologist and a founder member of the West Turkana Archaeology Project, hailed the discovery.
  • He appealed to the Museum’s partners and those present to think of how the work of the Museum could be successfully funded.

The National Museums of Kenya will need additional funding if it is to effectively carry out its heritage conservation function, the Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya has said.

Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia made the remarks at the Louis Leakey Auditorium Friday, when the discovery of the oldest stone tools in the world was announced by researchers in Nairobi.

Dr Kibunjia, himself an archaeologist and a founder member of the West Turkana Archaeology Project, hailed the discovery. “When we tell Kenyans and the world this is where our collective memory is, you have to believe us”, he said.

His remarks were echoed by Mr Jean-Pierre Turin, the Cultural and Cooperation Counsellor at the French Embassy. “We know that East Africa was the cradle of mankind, but we know today that Kenya was the cradle of innovation”.

Mr Turin said the discovery was also important because it highlighted the scientific component of Kenya-French cooperation, which, he said was based on ‘equal partnerships’. The West Turkana Archaeological Project, which discovered the stone tools, is a project between the National Museums of Kenya and the French government.

Speaking before the discovery was unveiled, Dr Kibunjia appealed to the Museum’s partners and those present to think of how the work of the Museum could be successfully funded.

“It is one thing for these scientists to discover things and write publications like the one that came out in Nature, but once they leave, these materials have to be taken care of, so that next year when they come they can find them in good order.”

Dr Kibunjia stated that 80 per cent of the Museum’s revenues came from tourism, and the heritage sector needed support just like the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Tourist arrivals in Kenya have been adversely affected by insecurity. Terrorist attacks, the most recent of which killed 148 people at Garissa University College, have led foreign countries to review travel advice.

“As we rescue hotels and tourism, we must also think about heritage because we are suffering,” he said.