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New Bill seeks to recognise, protect cultural heritage

Young Maasai men wear ceremonial headdresses during the Eunoto ceremony in August 2023. (Photo: File/Luis Tato/AFP)

By Issa Hussein | 22 Apr 2024

The Bill gives guidance on the management of culture in Kenya and breaks down the functions of the national and county governments.

A Bill seeking the recognition and protection of cultural heritage was introduced in the National Assembly on Monday, undergoing its first reading.

Culture Bill 2024, sponsored by majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah, seeks to give effect to Article 11(3) (a) of the constitution to provide for the protection and promotion of culture and the cultural heritage of Kenya's communities.

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Article 11(1) of the constitution, which the Bill seeks to support, notes that culture forms the foundation of the nation and is the cumulative civilisation of the Kenyan people and the nation.

It adds that clause 2 (b) further provides for the nation to develop and recognise the role of science and indigenous technologies.

A file picture of majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah. (Photo: Handout)

The Bill, which has undergone its first reading, gives guidance on the management of culture in Kenya and breaks down the functions of both the national and county governments.

"It also provides for the establishment of a cultural database, access to information relating to the management of culture, compensation to individuals, groups or communities for the use of cultural properties, research into culture and cultural heritage, and registration of cultural properties," Parliament said in a statement.

The National Assembly envisages that once the Bill becomes law, endangered communities, cultures, cultural expressions and indigenous community technologies will be recognised, promoted and protected by public entities.

The Bill also addresses the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, which outlines and distinguishes the function between the two levels of government as cultural activities remain a devolved function of county governments.

In November 2023, Parliament approved the ratification of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, joining a global fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts.

The approval aimed to strengthen Kenya's authority to push for the return of artefacts taken from the country by foreign states.