Peter Onywoki, a driver at the Technical University of Mombasa, on Friday rubbed shoulders with the institution’s top managers, a rare opportunity for him.
Onywoki, who has worked at the institution for more than 10 years, rarely interacted with the management.
“It was great to interact with him. He is a nice guy after all,” Onywoki said.
It was Tum Staff Cultural Day where the institution’s workers got to showcase their different cultures to bond and understand each other better.
Human resource manager David Mwakidimi said the event was to celebrate Kenya's diversity.
“We believe that it is in the unity of the diversity and the differences we have in the different cultures that bring us together and make us strong,” he said.
“Through this event, we are able to learn about others. What are their values? You get insights about their foods, cuisine, the different culinary preparations. At the end of the day, we believe and hope through this we will be able to look at one another positively,” he said.
Mwakidimi said the expectation is that the positivity will then flow into their work and enhance performance.
“Culture is the identity of any society. It is actually the building block of any society. Different cultures have different positive values. It is those positive values that we then build on in anything you want to do,” he said.
Gichangi said there is strength in diversity and this is what Kenya strives to achieve every day.
“Now we understand better what our Swahili, Agikuyu, Ameru, Abaluhya and Luo people are all about. It is an opportunity for us to harness those differences so that there can be better understanding among staff,” he said.
He said it is important for Kenyans to embrace their cultures but must first define themselves as Kenyans first.
Mombasa Tourism Council chairman Sam Ikwaye, who was a judge at the cultural event, said it is important to implement a centre of excellence, which brings people from different cultural backgrounds together.
“When there is cohesion and understanding among staff, there is always harmony and good relations which enhances performance," he said.
“For example, we learnt that in some community, it is the older people who greet the younger ones. This is important to understand so that when you see a workmate not greeting you and waiting to be greeted, then you easily understand where they come from and not take it as rudeness.”
He said this understanding and working together reduces the polarising nature of Kenyan politics.
“Many times, when we approach political times we get a lot of political groupings in institutions because our political sphere is anchored in tribal lines. Therefore, having cultural diversity dilutes and brings effective work in workplaces,” Ikwaye said.
He said this should be emulated in all other universities and other work places.
On tourism, he said culture is one of the products that Kenya sells as a destination and is also the only product that is authentic and cannot be copied.
“When you travel out there, culture is sold or packaged in stories. When you talk about competitive advantage of a destination it is how strong we’ve been able to identify and pass along our cultures,” Ikwaye said.
