Govt urges counties to identify monuments to market abroad

Arts and Culture Principal Secretary Joe Okudo said each county government should identify two monuments for them to be popularised to woo visitors so that all the regions could benefit from tourism.

He cited Turkana County which is being popularised as the cradle of mankind that of recent has been attracting both local and international tourists as well as researchers and students.

“Monuments and culture attract large number of tourists from across the globe. Therefore, it’s important for the counties to capitalise on heritage to uplift tourism countrywide,” he said.

“Although the country has lots of monuments, only a few have been exposed to international source markets. We want to market all museums so that the local communities can derive income,” he added.

Monument management

Speaking at Kenya Heritage Training Institute in Mombasa on Monday, Mr Okudo said the National Museums of Kenya in collaboration with University of Nairobi would offer training to county governments’ workers on protection and management of monuments.

He said NMK, for the first time, has launched a five-day training for county governments’ workers at Kenya Heritage Training Institute in Mombasa.

Mr Okudo said the training would enable workers from the county governments gain skills on protecting and preserving museums for posterity.

The first batch of 25 trainees include workers from Lamu and Turkana counties, Kenya Defence Forces, NMK and local and international community individuals.

“Museum functions are being devolved to the county governments, hence capacity building for county staff should be a priority to ensure they gain skills on conserving heritage sites,” he said.

Mr Okudo made the remarks at the Kenya Heritage Training Institute in Mombasa Tuesday when he officially opened the first training for county governments’ staff.

Empower participants

The PS said the course would empower participants with skills to enable them provide professional advice to mitigate challenges that face heritage within their counties and institutions.

He added that the trainees would gain knowledge on basic curative and preventive conservation, collection documentation and storage organisation so as to contribute to the preservation and use of the cultural heritage.

National Museums of Kenya director-general Mzalendo Kibunjia, said it was important for county governments’ workers to undergo the training since they lacked skills on managing museums.

He said NMK would this year spend Sh1 million after every three months to offer training to county workers, government institutions’ workers and individuals for them to attain skills in conserving heritage.

“National Museums of Kenya has inadequate budget for conserving monuments. We are encouraging well-off individuals to open their own museums to supplement our conservation efforts,” he said.