The Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports has engaged members of the Migori creative industry in public participation for the Draft Creative Economy Policy and Draft Creative Bill of 2023.
The Creative Industries Bill, 2023 will aim to nurture and support the development of creative industries, to facilitate innovation, talent, research, and entrepreneurship for the creative industries as well as provide for the registration of the Creative Industries Association.
Speaking on Wednesday during the engagement forum with the creatives at Migori Teachers Training College (TTC), Dr. Damaris Ogama, from the Department of Youth Affairs and Creative Economy said that the task force was particularly interested to know whether creatives were in support of the measures that have been proposed by the government in terms of infrastructure support, provision of credit and the introduction of a voucher system for the creatives.
She added that other measures that the task force was particularly seeking from the creatives included the presented opportunity for mentorship, training, and a platform for market creative economy expansion.
Ogama however noted that the government was interested in integrating creative industries into the capital market to enable issue bonds and raise funds towards putting up infrastructure support for the creative sector.
“This engagement is mainly centered on the Kenyan creative youths to include the creative economy into the government’s economic agenda and uplifting local talents among the populace youths,” affirmed Ogama.
She pointed out that already, the government has an intellectual property right to help create opportunities for creatives and to protect them from imitations of their art.
During the participation forum, the creatives from Migori demanded the involvement of the County government in their activities and their appreciation of their enormous talents, skills, and better remunerations for their work.
The Chairperson of the Migori Performing Artists Association Jacob Otieno applauded the efforts of the task force for enabling participation before the enactment of the bills in the creative industry.
Otieno pointed out that it was time for the localisation of the creatives’ skills to enable them to earn a decent living; as well as being able to benefit and get the necessary support from the County governments in terms of training and mentorship.
“Let the County governments come up with proper measures on how the creatives can benefit from their creative works in the creative economic space,” noted Otieno.
The creatives also demanded protection against exploitation of their products, better avenues for conflict resolution mechanisms to enable them to grow their talents, and equal opportunities in terms of talent empowerment.
By Geoffrey Makokha
