NONINI CRITICISES THE GOVERNMENT FOR SPENDING SH500M ON GRAMMY BID 

Kenyan music veteran Hubert Nakitare, popularly known as Nonini, has called out the government for its failure to address pressing domestic issues, including unpaid intern doctors and Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti, while allocating Sh500 million toward hosting the Grammy Awards. 

Taking to his social media platform, Nonini shared his disappointment, stating, “Intern Doctors haven’t been paid & some committing suicide… Kenyan Police in Haiti haven’t been paid, SHI/SHA is a disaster lakini we have paid 500 Million to host the Grammys? @RecordingAcad #OccupyGrammys” 

Nonini’s comment comes after President William Ruto, during a town hall meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Monday, revealed that Kenya had officially submitted a bid to host the prestigious Grammy Awards. President Ruto confirmed that Sh500 million had already been paid to secure the bid as part of efforts to position Kenya as a global entertainment hub. 

Speaking at the event, the President said, “We have already paid Sh500 million. This is not a future plan; it’s already done. I’m confident that the gentleman here from the Grammys can verify that we’re making significant progress in securing this milestone.” 

Dennis Itumbi, the Head of Presidential Special Projects and Creative Economy, added that a representative from the Grammy Awards, attended the town hall and will meet with the President later this week to discuss the initiative further. “There is a gentleman here from the Grammys, and we’ve already instructed the State Department to process the payments for Kenya to host the African Grammys headquarters,” Itumbi stated.