KEPSA participated in the National Heroes Council Strategic Plan Validation Forum held at Utalii Hotel in Nairobi on 15^th May 2024. KEPSA was led by Ms. Carol Warui – the Chair of Sports, Arts & Culture Sector Board in a forum that brought together renowned heroes and heroines from all over the country.

The National Heroes Council is a state corporation, established by the Kenya Heroes Act No.5 of 2014 with the mandate of establishing criteria for identifying, selecting and honouring national heroes. The council also oversees the policy formulation and implementation relating to national heroes among other functions like establishing and managing heroes’ squares and administering state assistance to heroes.

The forum aimed at collating feedback on the Council’s draft inaugural strategic plan that will guide the implementation of its mandate in the following areas; liberation struggle, philanthropy, art, indigenous knowledge, sports, cultural values and practices, spiritual leaders, scholarship professionalism and research, peace-making, statesmanship, entrepreneurship and industry, human rights, natural cohesion and integration, and environmental conservation.

In his introductory remarks, Mr. Charles Wambia – CEO, National Heroes Council noted that the Council was working to actualise the plan to have special identification that will see the heroes accorded the honour that they deserve. “It’s not an easy journey, we need a lot of hands to come and help as to deliver this plan,” he noted.

The Council’s Chairperson Hon. Jimmy Angwenyi acknowledged the contribution of all stakeholders in the development process of the strategy while noting the criticality of the plan to implement the Council’s mandate. He also intimidated the collaboration between the Council of Governors and the National Heroes Council which will seek to stimulate the grassroots operations of the Council.

The Principal Secretary for Culture, the Arts & Heritage Ms. Ummi Bashir, in a statement that was delivered by Ms. Fatma Ahmed, reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to support the development of the Strategy. She called upon the county governments and other stakeholders to work closely with the National Heroes Council to ensure all heroes are honoured. She also mentioned the government’s resolve to establish a heroes fund which will help in administering state assistance to the heroes.

During the feedback session, Ms. Carol Warui pointed out the importance of generating media content by documenting the heroes and their achievements which will in turn generate revenue for the Council. She also mentioned the need for the Council to initiate impactful partnerships that could elevate its brand and supplement the issue of low funding which limits implementation of its mandate.

Some of the issues that emerged from the forum included limited funding of the Council, lack of special recognition of heroes even after identification, the need to award meritocracy as opposed to mediocrity, lack of coordination at the grassroots level, the need to leverage ICT in the development of heroes inventories, among other issues which the Council promised to address and include in the final document of the strategic plan.