To achieve national ethos and cohesion, the Building Bridges Initiative task force has recommended that Boxing Day should be converted to National Culture Day.
The task force said the day (December 26) which is used by some to receive Christmas gifts should instead be set aside to celebrate Kenya’s diverse cultures.
They propose that the same celebrations can also be held on January 1 every year.
“We lack 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 report says.
“To change, this is bottom-up work starting in the family and the community , supported by initiatives that embrace the positive cultures, beliefs and ideals of Kenya’s diverse communities and facilitated by civil society,private sector and state institutions.”
The team says the national ethos should be thought in schools, religious institutions, cultural centres, through media and the arts.
To end the perennial political tensions that come with elections, they recommend that a national vision for the nation that will exist for 100 years or three generations should be drawn.
And to deal with a situation where some Kenyans are uncomfortable with the black skin to the extent of bleaching, the task force has said the government should undertake initiatives that harmonise modern identity with diverse African cultures.
They also want the Ministry of Culture and Heritage which they say has been treated as a peripheral government activity to be strengthened.
