Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala has called on the young people to use creativity as a career path, noting that music and drama have proved to be high-earning industries.
Speaking during the just-concluded 2025 Kenya Music Festival held in Meru County, the PS said the government is committed to supporting learners talented in creative arts as well as to get them exposed to the market.
She said the festival had brought out the great creativity in Kenya’s young people hence the need to provide them with an environment to grow it through provision of the necessary musical instruments in schools, as well as mentorships.
“These performances have told stories on climate change, gender based violence among others which call for necessary action from policy makers,” noted Inyangala.
National chairperson for the festivals Prof Frederick Ngala raised concern over the gender disparity, noting that female participants far outnumbered their male counterparts.
“We must make a concerted effort to help the boy child participate at the festival. We had over 95,000 females against 45,000 male participants recorded this year, a difference I find unacceptable and needs to be bridged,” he said.
During the event, Kenyatta University won the overall category among institutions of higher learning, closely followed by Mount Kenya University (MKU).
Other institutions of higher learning that made a big impact on the national stage included the University of Nairobi, with Daystar University making serious inroads at the fete.
MKU had 17 wins, and was ranked runners-up on 10 categories and took position three in eight competitions.
The institution’s Head of Sports, Film and Creative Arts activities Mr. William Luta welcomed the achievement attributing it to the support the institution gives its students and staff members.
“The competition has been stiff. We are proud of the team. However, we have identified areas that need improvement and we will be working towards that as we prepare for the 98th edition come 2026,” Luta vowed.
The MKU team had much prominence in African wind instrument, African solo drum, African and western instrumental assemble, African string fiddle and brass solo.
Kenyatta University took home more than 30 wins. With over 56 entries, the institution, a bedrock of creativity for years, established itself as the team to beat at the fete that attracted 26 universities, up from eight last year.
The 12-day festival attracted nearly 150,000 participants. The winners will head to Kampala, Uganda for the East Africa Music, Dance and Drama Festival, alongside winners from the Drama and Theatre Festival.
By Muoki Charles
