Ruto Joins Maa Community for Cultural and Tourism Festival at Sekenani

Kenya, 14 November 2026 - President William Ruto on Saturday joined the Maa community for the Cultural and Tourism Festival at Sekenani in Narok County.

The Maasai are one of the African communities that have best preserved their culture, which remains a key symbol of African heritage.

During the event, the President was shown artifacts made by members of the Maa community.

The Head of State also commissioned the Ushanga-Curio Mall, a market where beads, necklaces, bracelets and other artifacts will be sold. On 2 November 2026, Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture and Children Service Hanna Wendot stated that the mall is positioned at the gateway to one of Kenya’s most celebrated tourism destinations, and as such, the facility is envisioned as a vibrant marketplace where Kenyan craftsmanship, cultural identity and enterprise converge.

"Built as part of the Ushanga Kenya Initiative, the mall provides a dedicated, organised marketplace for local artisans, particularly women beadworkers and pastoralist communities, to display and sell their handmade traditional crafts, beadwork, and cultural artifacts directly to tourists and visitors," CS Wendot said.

Maasai culture is one of Kenya’s tourist attractions. The community is found in both Kenya and Tanzania, with Narok and Kajiado counties having the largest Maasai populations in Kenya. In Tanzania, the community is found mainly in Arusha and Manyara regions, with smaller populations in Kilimanjaro, Tanga and Dodoma.

In Maasai culture, boys circumcised together call each other ndauo, slang for a friend. Olmorani refers to a warrior, often a young man. Olpaijan refers to a man, enkitok refers to a woman while engerai refers to a child.

President Ruto regularly attends cultural events of Kenyan communities. He has consistently stressed the need to strengthen unity and embrace positive ethnicity and diversity, as opposed to negative ethnicity, which he says risks tearing the country apart.

On 17 December 2025, the President attended the 5th Piny Luo Cultural Festival, whose main event was hosted in Migori County. He was officially installed as a Luo community elder by the Ker, the community’s cultural leader, alongside Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Odinga at Thimlich Ohinga.