Mount Kenya University (MKU)’s winning in the 97th edition national music festivals was evident as the fete closed on Saturday with top performers showcasing their prowess to the President, First Lady and top government officials at Sagana State Lodge.
The Kenya Music Festival were held in Meru County, with the main venues being Meru School, Kaaga Girls High School, and Meru Teachers Training College. The festival were held from 3rd to 16th August, 2025 under the theme “Enhancing the Creative Economy through Artistic Expression for Sustainable Development”.
MKU Head of Sports, Film and Creative arts Mr. William Luta could not hide his joy at the outstanding performance exhibited by its students.
“I am proud of these young souls. What makes me happier is that as a university, we maximize and limit our performance only to current and active students, we train and groom the students to be performers and when we see them perform well, the satisfaction is fulfilling,” Luta said.
Mount Kenya University finished second overall in the competitions. University secured 17 first-place wins, 10 second-place finishes, and 8 third-place positions. “However, we have learnt on areas that need improvement and we will be working towards that as we prepare for the 98th edition come 2026,” Luta vowed.
MKU’s University Students Welfare Principal, Mr Peter Waweru, praised the group’s performance, acknowledging that the good results were due to the support the institution gives its students and staff members.
He assured the team that this support can only be improved and increased to ensure the team is comfortable and have all instruments needed at their disposal,” he said.
The MKU team had much prominence in instrumentation classes both African and western instrumentation assemble winning – African wind instrument, African solo drum, African and western instrumental assemble, African string fiddle and brass solo. In the verse category the verses group were the giants in their own category scoping eight wins, and more than 10 podium finishes in other classes.
Other winning items emanated from university choir’s winning arrangement for boys and a sponsored song by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) on safe use of data on online platforms.
The institution’s winning cultural dances were the Meru folk song and Meru cultural dances.
MKU’s choral verse at the event stirred public debate after confronting what it described as a “moral crisis” in schools and universities. The performance blended poetry, rhythm and drama to warn of rising immorality, lesbianism and homosexuality among students, urging urgent action. “It is time to expose the ills maovu tuyakemee, ishindwe, hayo ni mapepo. We should come out and say what is bedeviling our institutions so that we can get ourselves from this danger,” the group recited.
