BBI ‘abolishes’ Boxing Day
Kenyans will no longer celebrate Boxing Day, if recommendations contained in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force report are adopted.
The team has recommended that Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas, be known as the National Culture Day.
The report wants the Ministry of Culture and Heritage strengthened in order to achieve national ethos and cohesion.
“A people who care about their national ethos will ensure that this is one of the most important Government bodies. Replace Boxing Day on 26 December with a National Culture Day for celebrating culture and learning about other Kenyans’ cultures (this could also be done on 1 January),” the report says.
It says the country lacks shared beliefs, ideals and aspirations about what Kenya can become if we all subscribed to a national ethos that builds and reinforces our unity.
The team says that national ethos should be taught in schools, religious institutions and cultural centres, through media and the arts.
Boxing Day is said to have originated from the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire.