Kenyans have rejected the garb that was touted as the national dress in 2004. Barely two months after the attire had been presented to the public as the national dress of Kenya, Kenya’s Parliamentary Speaker, Francis Ole Kaparo advised the ministry of culture to do some serious thinking.

Throwing Prof Kivutha Kibwana out of the House for what he described as being improperly dressed, Ole Kaparo declared there had been no declaration of a national dress in Kenya. Ole Kaparo’s sentiments, that came out in early December 2004, were interpreted as a big blow to the ‘national dress’ as they could prejudice the public against it. Although it was claimed that Prof Kibwana’s light blue, low-necked, short sleeved kitenge shirt with grey stripes at the sleeves was part of the national dress that had been launched only two months earlier, Ole Kaparo ordered the assistant minister in the Office of the President to go and dress properly even as the former insisted he was dressed in the national attire.

Kaparo, who is remembered for throwing out of Parliament MPs Koigi wa Wamwere and Paul Gor Sunguh for what was described as indecent dressing but two days later praising Public Works minister Raila Amolo Odinga for being ‘smart’ in an attire similar to the ones Wamwere and Sunguh had donned, was reported to have wondered "what heroism MPs find in dressing improperly." To protests that Prof Kibwana was in the national dress, Kaparo demanded to know who had declared the shirt a national dress, where and when. Not even arguments by Prof Kibwana that the Ministry for Gender, Sports and Social Services had gone "through a very elaborate process to determine what our national dress will be” could save him from the wrath of the Speaker. Kaparo intoned: "It is the opinion of the Chair that if that be our national dress, then the ministry needs to go back and think very hard!"

Ochillo Ayacko, the Gender, Sports and Social Services minister under whose docket the national dress issue falls, said, "Mr Speaker Sir, I know there will be occasion to debate this, but what Prof Kibwana is wearing is the national dress although it is not the complete fashion." But the Speaker could not buy his argument. Saying the House was "repulsed" by Prof Kibwana's "casual look", Ole Kaparo added, "You cannot even go and teach a Standard Seven class in that attire.” The Speaker advised the Ministry of Culture that whatever national dress it designs, it should "make sure that it makes sense."

Ayacko pleaded with the Speaker to reserve his comments on the national dress, contending that the Speaker’s "point that has been made so firmly" could prejudice debate on the national dress when it is brought to Parliament. Mr Kaparo retorted: "Who allowed you to decree that it is our national dress? Who told you it is a national dress? There has not been any declaration of a national dress. I think whatever you people do, including the Hon Professor, you should at least come to the House with something that shows seriousness."

Although the incident looked embarrassing for the government as it showed the left hand did not know what the right one did, it showed the ambivalence with which the government treats culture. And drove even more people into rejecting the Sh50 million cloak that Najib Balala had conceived and mid-wifed as the national garb. Many more Kenyans interviewed consider the red, green and black ankle-length robe and cloak for women and shirt with slashed collar and cape across the shoulder for men as both cumbersome and clumsy.

Rather than forcing garbs on Kenyans, pundits continue to argue that an important matter like the national dress should come from the people at the grassroots and crawl to the national stage instead of the powers-that-be forcing it on people as a few people in the NARC government tried to do but ended up with an attire that Kaparo describes as lacking in seriousness. But the Director of Culture, Silverse Anami, says the national Dress is evolving and that there should be no reason for alarm or for concluding that it has miscarried. Citizens of nations with a national dress will tell you their garb has evolved without any one forcing it on the people. The sari is embraced by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka just as the Koreans and Japanese are proud of their Hanbok and Kimono, respectively. The Kilt and the Lungi of Scotland and Myanmar are other national symbols that have evolved through history for their practicality.

For its variety of pre-Columbian ethnic attire, Oaxaca province of Mexico is often described as a huge fashion show that attracts tourists to the central American nation. Given a chance, Kenya, too, is rich in pre-colonial ethnic wear that make the Kikuyu, the Kamba, the Maasai, the Samburu, the Luo and the Luyia unique. This is the kind of wear that should be given a chance to evolve and not those designed in Nairobi and forced on the people apparently for ‘patriotic’ and other chest-thumping, ego-raising reasons that have everything to do with politics and little to do with the aspirations of the people who matter.

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