‘Come here, go there’ secretary happy to serve, Itumbi says after new appointment
Blogger-cum-digital strategist Dennis Itumbi, has reacted to his appointment as a member of the newly constituted Talanta Hela Council.
In a message on his socials, Itumbi thanked Ababu Namwamba, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts for the appointment, with a promise to deliver.
“I pledge to serve and ensure the creators and performers benefit from their talents, bila story. For far too long most of our creatives become celebrities and we dance to their songs. Enjoy their plays and movies and even laugh along. But we rarely design platforms that grow them into the giants they are.”
Itumbi also observed that foreign films bypass Kenya because of simple decisions that policymakers take ages to implement, adding that creatives go through unnecessary barriers to fund their products.
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“We have great artists, phenomenal creators, unexplored ideas and the barriers to unlocking the greatness of our imagination is not the players in the sector, for a long time the problem has been at the policy level. The problem is easy to recite, and the solutions should be as easy to create and formulate because many institutions and task forces already have reports and findings,” he said.
The mandate of the Talanta Hela initiative will be revitalising sports and the creative economy, with part of the council’s task being providing the vision and overall policy direction for the initiative, as well as approving the necessary policy, legislative, budgetary, regulatory and institutional frameworks for the successful implementation of the initiative.
Mr Itumbi’s appointment comes after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recently said that although Itumbi has no office he does a lot behind the scenes.
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“Many of you wonder what is the work of Itumbi. His office is come here go there…He is a close friend of our President,” he added.
Other than Mr Itumbi, a number of well-known public figures were also appointed to government jobs through a gazzette notice on Friday night.
Among them is seasoned media personality Carol Radull who was appointed the chair of the Sports Technical Committee and renowned comedian Daniel Ndambuki aka Churchill who will chair the Creatives Technical Committee.
Others are thespians Jimmi Gathu and Catherine Kamau (Kate Actress), musicians Esther Akoth (Akothee) and Wahu Kagwi as well as TikToker Azziad Nasenya.
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