How government wants you to dress on Fridays

Hilary Kimuyu, kenyandigest.com

Image from article, with caption: Some of the female contestants on stage modelling African attires during a past edition of Mr and Miss University Kenya beauty pageant.

All government officers and the general public at large have been encouraged to adopt African dress codes every Friday as a way of promoting Kenyan culture and heritage.

This after the government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared Fridays as Kenyan/African attire day.

In a memo to Directors, Heads of Departments and various units, Tom Amolo, the Political and Diplomatic Secretary in the ministry said that “Africaness” should be used as a tool for diplomacy.

“We brand our nation as much through our choice of attire, as what we may say or do,” Amolo wrote.

Amolo called on state officers and all Kenyans to embrace the various African fabrics and fashion styles from wherever they are in Africa or outside.

NATIONAL DRESS CODE

“The ethos of this re-engagement speaks to an assertion of an affirmative African narrative that defines our Africaness and insists that at its core, its manifestations and reflections – being African is best,” he said.

He said that the initiative aimed at increasing awareness on Kenya’s culture as well as generate interest in the country’s heritage .

“Clothing is a tool for self-expression, social activism and public diplomacy [JB emphasis]. World leaders often wear traditional clothing to interact with foreign publics and to advance cultural understanding,” the [Amolo] memo read.

A Kenyan national dress introduced in 2004 was discarded after various designers opposed it, terming it a project imposed on people against their will.