The Kenya Film Commission (KFC) will soon establish a film hub at Voi to tap into the local art and acting talent in Taita Taveta County.
The expression of intent was announced Tuesday during a consultative meeting between the KFC officials led by the commission’s chief executive officer Mr Timothy Owase and the county government delegation led by Vumi Ringo, the County Executive Committee Member for Youth, Sports, Gender, Culture, and Social Services.
Making the announcement, Mr Owase termed Taita Taveta as a hotbed of arts and performing talent that can be turned into economic opportunities by creating an enabling environment.
“The county has no shortage of talents that can be effectively converted into economic opportunities for the youth and anyone else who has some creativity to showcase. Our role will be laying down infrastructure that will provide a conducive environment to nurture and develop art and performing talents and propel them to the national level,” said Mr Owase.
Terming it a timely move and lauding KFC for the hub’s proposal, Ringo said indeed the county had massive untapped creative talent that can be used to create employment opportunities for thousands of youth.
“We’re sitting on a goldmine of creative talent that has never been nurtured to bud and explode into the national and global arenas. We’re happy for this collaboration and we’ll give all it takes to make the hub a reality,” she stated.
Taita Taveta County is bubbling with creative endowments and the proposed hub could be a gateway to creating jobs and exposing the local potential at the national stage.
KFC is a state agency domiciled at the ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, whose first and foremost obligation is to equip, empower, and create employment opportunities and enabling environment for the Kenyan youth.
The national government has been keen on creating an enabling environment for youth empowerment, employment, and supporting youth talent through several county and national initiatives.
Top in the list of these initiatives is the Kenya Youth Empowerment Opportunities Project (KYEOP), which has been successful.
The empowerment project, rolled out and supervised by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has seen tens of thousands of youths countrywide trained and equipped with relevant skills, experience and work placement both in the formal and informal sectors.
By Arnold Linga Masila
