The National Music Festival going on at Masinde Muliro University in Kakamega has a new category — news anchoring. And it is proving to be very popular.
The class, in which students are asked to present a four-minutes news piece on random topics, saw Dr Fred Matiang’i, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, featuring in most pieces.
The students urged Dr Matiang’i to keep up the pace of enforcing education reforms and to also act on insecurity. Dr Alfred Mutua, the Machakos governor, has also featured prominently, where he was praised for his development record.
Everlyne Wachieni of Mwenje Mixed High School had good eye contact with the audience. She told the Saturday Nation that television personality Julie Gichuru was her role model. Other girls who did well in the category were Cynthia Wanyeki of Pangani Girls High School and Rita Emamnuel of Mazeras High School.
The boys who presented items in the category cited Njoroge Mwaura (former anchor, KTN), Leonard Mambo Mbotela of KBC and Swaleh Mdoe of Citizen TV as their role models.
Among the boys were John Kimuti of Ribe High School, Evans Okenyi of Kanja High School, Dennis Ng’ethu of Kijabe Boys, Michael Momanyi of Baricho High and Karinga Mutahi of Starehe Boys Centre.
She also thanked the festival sponsors, chief among them the Central Bank of Kenya, for making the event a success. Other sponsors are Kenya Nut Processors, Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service, Citizen Participation in Security (Nyumba Kumi Initiative) and Unicef, among others.
In the primary schools category, Twiddle Pips Junior School of Nairobi County performed a thrilling Kipsigis folk song in praise the African woman.
The captivating piece brought out the energy and enchanting natural beauty of an Africa queen. The dance had a powerful message to the young generation of African women to avoid the use harmful cosmetics and excessive make-up which destroys their beauty. Soloist Faith Ndanu, Shalvia Kenda, Ian Kironjo and Joy Pelesia wowed audience with their thrilling dance choreographed by Purity Mwinijuma.
This week, Kakamega town was abuzz with visitors out to catch a glimpse of the performances and enjoy the scenic beauty of the town. Carol Academy won in the set piece category .
Election-related violence, tribalism, national unity and harmony have been the dominating themes during the event, now marking its 91st edition.
Students participating in the Taarab category tackled these issues, which are in many Kenyans’ minds ahead of the August 8 General Election.
Mama Ngina High School of Mombasa were the winners in the category with a song Chungu Chetu. In the song, the girls urged Kenyans to be peaceful and to maintain harmony whatever the election results might be.
A similar message was preached by Huruma Girls High School of Nairobi. St Mary’s Mabera Girls High School from Migori urged the youth not to be misused by politicians to cause violence. St Mary’s tied at third position with Kitale High School.
In the same category, Karatina Girls High School of Central region presented a song urging stricter checks on the social media ahead of the elections. Propaganda spread in social media forums can cause dangerous wounds which would be difficult to heal and the necessary authorities should be extra-vigilant, the song said. State House Girls of also presented a dance in the category.
Students presented items on the dirty tactics that politicians employ to win votes. These included the use of tribalist propaganda, invading rivals’ rallies to create mayhem, bribery and even wearing rivals’ regalia to create chaos. The category underlined the anxiety in the country ahead of the forthcoming elections. While not being voters themselves, the students expressed the opinion that the conduct of the elections would also affect them.
Kihumbuini Girls, Gitugi Girls and St Catherine Girls high schools carried the day in the Kiswahili choral verse sponsored by Central Bank.
The festival executive secretary Ruth Egesa said the public in Kakamega were looking forward to the finalists’ concert, which will be held today.
Tomorrow, the best pieces to emerge from the festival will be presented to the president in the state concert at Kakamega State Lodge.
The event’s national chairman Peter Wanjohi said the festival has also introduced the EAC national anthem to be performed as a category by participating schools.
“We want the anthem to be performed in every event in schools as part of a campaign to promote regional integration among our youths,” said Mr Wanjohi.
“This year’s theme, ‘Enhancing National Unity, Cohesion and Integration Through Kenya Music Festival,’ has come at the right time,” he said.
