Foreign artists who come to Kenya for shows will be limited in the coming days, Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts Cabinet Secretary nominee Ababu Namwamba has said.
Speaking at the National Creative summit, Namwamba has pledged to deal with the rot in the entertainment industry.
West African artists have largely been flocking into the country for the last few months.
According to the new CS, things will take a new shift.
“We want to expand our horizon with even Nigerian artists. We want to tap something on their consistency and how they dominate world music charts. There is something we can learn from there and there is something they can learn from us too,” he explained.
Namwamba added that this is to ensure they promote local content and regulate foreign artists performing in Kenya.
He said currently, there has not been any control over who performs in the country.
“Kenya has become like a space where any artiste can just walk in and do their things,” he said.
“Artists from other countries perform here with absolutely no control, yet you cannot do the same in their countries.”
He said that most of the countries the artists come from, do not allow artists from other countries to perform in their countries.
“You scratch my back, I scratch yours. If you are not allowing my artists to perform in your backyard, then why should we allow them to come here? “
The National Creative summit is currently taking place.
Artists and other music stakeholders are present.
Namwamba encouraged Kenyan artists to be authentic and original in their work.
“My ministry will be doing things differently and we want things done in different ways. Our Mantra should be Kenya to the world and not the other way.”