Wario revives quest for elusive national attire 12 years after first bid

Kenya is set to re-introduce a national attire more than a decade after a similar attempt flopped despite a well-oiled publicity blitz.

Culture and Arts secretary Hassan Wario said the renewed effort would build on the first national dress designs Kenyans created in 2004.

“It is high time we re-introduced the national attire as the culture aspect of our nationhood face the great risk of being eroded. The first design are still there but nobody wears them,” said Dr Wario.

In 2004, the Kibaki administration made frantic efforts to promote a national dress in a Sh50 million shilling branding effort sponsored by Unilever.

A group of designers assigned the task moved to incorporate elements of attires preferred by different communities to come up with what they later showcased as the national dress.

On Tuesday, Dr Wario said the government would not force anybody to adopt the national attire but would promote the discourse at every discussion.

According to Richard Krop, who sits at the Brand Kenya Board — a State agency tasked with identifying and refining the country’s image — the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has been assigned the task of ensuring uniform quality of national dress.

Mr Krop told the Business Daily that Kebs created a national heritage committee in January for stakeholders to discuss the national attire and come up with best ways to promote it among Kenyans.

“Kebs has been contracted with the job of pooling ideas together before it is rolled — although they will not be behind the designs,” said Mr Krop.

The previous design cost Sh5,000, an amount many ordinary Kenyans cannot afford given the high rate of poverty in the country where most households live on less than a dollar a day.

All Kenyan male MPs are required to dress formally in suits and ties during House sessions, raising concerns on the influence of colonialism and Western values on the national culture and dress code as well as a “lack of local personalised feel about being Kenyan”.

“When you land in Nigeria (blindfolded) you will definitely know you are there because of their accent and how they dress, but when the same is done at an airport in Kenya, you will be lost — not knowing where you are,” said Dr Wario.