Itumbi's Promises To Kenyan Creatives After Landing Govt Job

As a star-studded list of Kenyan celebrities, sports people among others showed their appreciation for President William Ruto through acknowledgement messages after landing government appointments, digital strategist, Dennis Itumbi took it a notch higher.

While appreciating the opportunity to serve in the Talanta Hela Council, Itumbi lamented how previous governments have ignored the plight of Kenyan creatives who have become celebrities mostly through the power of social media. 

In a statement on Saturday, February 11, Itumbi complained that creatives rarely receive support from the government so that they can further their talents to income-generating capabilities.

"We wear their designs or buy their crafts. The paintings and content warm our hearts.

"But they struggle to fund their products, then sweat to make money from the end products and in between so many unnecessary barriers," he disclosed.

Itumbi, who played a major role in selling President Ruto's image in the run-up to the general elections, also mocked previous regimes for lagging behind in policy-making decisions, especially in the film industry.

As a result, some of the world's biggest film production studios shoot their movies in South Africa, bypassing Kenya which is a popular country for visiting tourists.

"It does not end there, foreign films bypass Kenya because of simple decisions that policymakers take ages to make - as a result even our best stories are filmed in South Africa.

"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," added Itumbi.

He thus vowed to work on the National Strategy for the Creative Economy, backed by various Technical Committees. 

Some of the sectors he would put into focus include theatre, film, music, art, craft, animation, gaming, poetry, photography, graphics and graffiti, among others, terming this as an opportunity to dream big and connect ideas to reality.

"Thank you CS Ababu Namwamba for picking me to assist deliver this very important assignment - with a ruthless focus, I pledge to serve and ensure the creators and performers benefit from their talents, without stories.

"I love this assignment, totally. The Come Here, Go there secretariat is happy to support and serve," he concluded.

Itumbi will be among the members tasked with providing the vision and overall policy direction for the Talanta Hela Initiative, ensuring commitment to Talanta Hela at the highest level of government and reviewing the progress as well as addressing the challenges of Talanta Hela.

He will also approve the necessary policy, legislative, budgetary, regulatory and institutional frameworks for the successful implementation of the Talanta Hela Initiative.

Digital Strategist, Dennis Itumbi. /FILE