Let's turn our cities into cultural centres

The city of Kisumu recently hosted a continental meeting of municipalities called Africities. Africities is held every three years. It has been held before in Nairobi, Marrakech, Dakar, Johannesburg and Abidjan.

This conference brings together a range of persons and institutions – politicians, bureaucrats, presidents, members of the civil society, researchers, manufacturing and service companies, among others. It is a meeting of various actors who make life in urban Africa possible.

What was very special about Africities in Kisumu was the fact that this was the first time it was held in an intermediary city. Intermediary cities are defined by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the organisation that brings together cities and local governments from all over the world, on their website as ‘cities with a population between 50,000 and one million people that generally play a primary role in connecting important rural and urban areas to basic facilities and services’. UCLG-Africa, who were the organisers of the Africities forum Kisumu, has its headquarters in Rabat. Kisumu was playing in the big league, in a manner of speaking.

Which is why the lakeside city needs to claim its rightful place as the likely cultural headquarters of the eastern Africa community. Kisumu has always had what it takes to be the centre of arts and culture in Kenya and eastern Africa. It sits on the shores of Lake Victoria. The expansive waters connects it to Tanzania and Tanzania. These links can be extended to South Sudan, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, all the way to the Central African Republic.

Kisumu is the entertainment capital of the Kavirondo region, which includes the counties of Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya, Busia, Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Kericho, Nandi, all the way to Eldoret. In fact, Kisumu can draw seekers of leisure and pleasure from the entire Great Rift region. The nearest competitor to Kisumu in this would be Nakuru County.

Benga music

Kisumu is also, to some extent, the homestead of Benga music. Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Kisii, have produced a significant number of men and women of Benga music. This beat, which has wowed Kenyans for decades, partly defines Kisumu’s identity. Indeed, ‘Junction Inn’ was once the hottest spot for Benga music in the entire Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley regions. The late Okatch Biggy and his band, Super Heka Heka, defined the socio-cultural life of the lakeside city in the 1990s. But Okatch was building on a rich heritage that has been around Kisumu since its inception.

So, why can Kisumu not become the place to go to for entertainment and leisure for Kenyans, people from the region or even international visitors or tourists? There is the port. Roads from different parts of Kenya converge in the city. It has an international airport. Why can’t towns such as Nakuru, Eldoret, Kakamega, Embu or Machakos invest in the entertainment and leisure sector just as much as they talk of industrialisation? Kenyans love their nyama choma na ugali or samaki na ugali. Thereafter they will have their beer and whiskey the whole afternoon. Live band or club music till early morning will nicely wrap up the day. This entertainment industry can employ millions of Kenyans directly and indirectly.

Clubs exist in many of these towns. But often they struggle to survive. One needs too many licences to set up a nightclub. The running costs can be prohibitive. Consequently, many clubs cannot maintain standards that would attract clients beyond the ‘regulars’. Can’t governments intervene? Can’t county governments invest in some of these clubs even indirectly – say by supporting live bands to regularly play in some of them? Is it possible for the lakeside counties to think of the entire Winam Gulf as a leisure and pleasure front?

Kisumu should be where all artistes in eastern Africa come to record their music. It should be the musical hub of the entire region. Considering that it already has a musical sensibility, why can’t the county government, with the support of the national government, invest in or support individuals who can establish recording studios in the port city? Such studios would draw in different musical genres from the region, inviting diverse cultural communities into Kisumu, which would in turn support the entertainment industry in the city.

With different cultures meeting in Kisumu, it would naturally be a melting pot of the many cultures in the region. Thus, the city would naturally have to host an annual festival of the arts and cultures for the region.

Performing arts

Think of the festival as a meeting point of the visual and performing arts – film, music, dance, drama, paintings, books etc. The multiplier effect of such a festival over the years is massive. It would mean sustained growth in the hotel industry. The transport, security and other related service sectors would also expand. The people of Kisumu would live in a socio-economic and cultural cycle of pre-festival and post-festival planning.

Who knows what other organisations or groups would plan their own events just before or just after the festival? Who knows the immediate or future benefits of such fiesta? What kind of local, regional and global connections would such a festival bring to Kisumu? What can such a festival do to the artificial geographical borders that political differences in the region maintain? Indeed, what would such a festival do to politics? How would it redefine, for instance, the relationship between, say, the people of Kisumu (Kenya) and Musoma (Tanzania) and Jinja (Uganda)?

Clearly, as people travel between these towns and cities, they don’t just travel as cultural agents. They aren’t just musicians, dancers or actors and their managers; or reporters; or critics. When they cross borders, they often buy goods. They may also have new skills, which they can impart to others in the new places. Language travels with them. New relationships emerge. Business deals may be made and others may be motivated to travel to new lands. This is what the business of culture is about.

Thus, why can’t towns such as Kisumu, which will take some time before they really grow as industrial centres, invest in the arts and culture for now? Shouldn’t they see culture as a business? Put money in music, dance, watersport, entertainment and leisure and see what the returns are. In other words, exploit the brand Kisumu.

The entertainment offered to the Africities visitors on the opening day and at the Gala dinner, as well as in the various clubs during the week, demonstrated that Kisumu has huge potential to make money out of culture as well as become a cultural centre in the region.

The writer teaches literature and performing arts at the University of Nairobi. [email protected]