Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta to champion African Union’s culture, arts program

The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta has accepted on Friday, January 10 an invitation to become a champion of the African Union's culture and the arts program.

Kenya's Head of State, Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to take up the new role after receiving a special message from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali who was recently elected to lead the continent's culture and the arts agenda, APA News noted. The special message inviting Kenyatta for the continental role was delivered in Mombasa by President Keïta's Special Envoy Prof Alioune Sall.

The President of Kenya underscored the importance of culture and the arts in cultivating unity and promoting continental integration. According to the 58-year-old leader, the rich African culture and the arts could be harnessed as a vehicle to inculcate a positive attitude, instil patriotism as well as create employment for the youth throughout the continent.

Uhuru Kenyatta expressed the requirement of promoting the African cultural heritage with an objective to bring on board all Africans in the diaspora including people of African descent spread across the globe. "I am keen on promoting our culture, our rich African culture which is our identity and heritage. You can count on our support on this," Kenyatta said.

"It is important to come up with a concrete agenda on culture and the arts that can be implemented and we need to work together to move this agenda forward," he added.

He further said that Kenya would provide two experts on culture to join the technical team charged with the responsibility of spearheading the implementation of the continent's cultural agenda.