The National Museums of Kenya is partnering with communities to conserve and document the rich heritage in the country's diverse sites and monuments.
The programme was initiated by director of antiquities, sites and monuments Dr Fredrick Manthi.
The first meeting with stakeholders was held on Saturday in Kilifi county for Malindi and Gedi Heritage hub at the White Elephant Sea and Art Lodge.
It was graced by NMK Director General Prof Mary Gikungu, Kilifi Deputy Governor Flora Chibule, NMK and county government officials, partners and stakeholders both local and foreigners.
The idea of the meeting was to talk to local communities businesspeople, hoteliers and county officials on the importance of conserving national heritage.
Gikungu said the objective of the meeting was to talk to their stakeholders on the importance of preserving the rich national heritage, both natural and cultural.
“This is a journey that we have wished to involve other people in different sectors because heritage is cross-cutting as much as it is the mandate of NMK to preserve and manage the national heritage. We cannot do it alone, we are not the custodians,” she said.
Gikungu said they felt it was important to start with Malindi because it is one of the heritage sites that was very rich in culture.
“The Swahili community is very rich and we felt this could be one of the sites to start with. We think about the other cultural heritage products like the sites and monuments. We have the Gedi Ruins, our schoolchildren come to learn about Vasco da Gama Pillar and we want to tell it better,” she said.
She said they also want to enhance the knowledge of heritage, both tangible and intangible in counties around the Coast by promoting the conservation of the sites which are little-known and are not on the map of Kenya.
“Those are areas that we can work on to make sure they are attractive to tourists. This will increase the number of visitors, which will lead to job opportunities and income generation for the nation,” she said.
On the documentation of the sites existing in the country, she called on stakeholders to help them raise funds as they cannot do it alone as an institution.
“We are lobbying for support from donors and county governments to help us raise that platform of documenting our sites,” she said.
Chibule said Kilifi boasts of many sites and monuments.
“We are proud to be having Malindi Museum, Rabai Museum, Gedi Ruins, Kipepeo and Jumba la Mtwana. We have our Kayas because out of the nine Mijikenda tribes, seven are in Kilifi. Some of our Kayas are Unesco World Heritage Sites,” she said.
Malindi Municipality Board chairman Suleiman Omar said the initiative will go along way in helping conserve the culture and heritage of the county.