Lure of culture beckons as Marsabit hosts key festival

A member of Samburu community in prayers during the seventh edition of the Lake Turkana Cultural Festivals at Loiyangalani in Marsabit county on June 15, 2014. PHOTO|JOSEPH KANYI

What you need to know:

  • The north has potential to produce good athletes as they are near Ethiopia, which competes seriously against Kenya in the medium and long races.

  • Besides the races, communities from the region will each get to showcase their different cultures and engage in other activities to promote cohesion.

  • The Marsabit County Government, which has sponsored the event, is seeking to promote cultural tourism and peace.

From May 19 to 21, all roads will be leading to Marsabit County for the ninth edition of the Marsabit-Lake Turkana Cultural Festival.

The festival which brings together 14 different communities from northern Kenya for three days of celebrations will for the first time promote sporting talent in the area through the inaugural Lake Turkana half Marathon. The competition will be divided into three categories; the 21km and 10km races for adults and the 3km one for children.

Athletics Kenya will give winners from the region livestock. The overall winner will receive a camel, the first runners up a cow and the second a goat.

Mr Richard Ekai, the Principal Secretary in charge of Gender and Sports said the ministry intends to use such events to open up northern Kenya.

“Opportunities like this will help expand greater sporting activity in the larger north,” he said.

The north has potential to produce good athletes as they are near Ethiopia, which competes seriously against Kenya in the medium and long races.

Besides the races, communities from the region will each get to showcase their different cultures and engage in other activities to promote cohesion.

The Marsabit County Government, which has sponsored the event, is seeking to promote cultural tourism and peace.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL COHESION

Governor Ukur Yatani said: “The festival has not only grown to become an important annual event in the domestic tourism promotion calendar in the country but has also become a critical tool in the promotion of social and cultural cohesion, harmonious coexistence and protection of the environment.”

He said that the festival was gaining recognition as it was last year nominated for India’s prestigious TAGORE International Award for promoting social harmony.

The nomination was based on statistics from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research Analysis (KIPPRA), which showed that the cohesion index in the region improved from 62 per cent in 2013 to 86 per cent last year.

“We want to use this opportunity to ensure that there can be better cohesion and integration within counties,” Mr Yatani said.

Further the county government also intends to capitalize on the various tourist attraction and archeological sites to promote the economy.

“The famous Koobi Fora, recognised globally as the origin of the Human race where nearly half of all fossil evidence of human evolution in recent years has been found is within this region, qualifying Marsabit County as the true cradle of humankind,” said the governor.