TENDAI'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1.    The Mvita Constituency Development Fund Committee

At the inauguration of the CDF Act in 2003, the initial team of Committees appointed within each constituency had to think hard about the future of the community, regions and country as a whole that they represented. The decision to manage approximately Kshs. 50 million/year was a profound decision that needed to be based on diligent service to the people.  In the five years from 2003-2007 as a member of the Mvita Constituency Development Committee, I was involved in various development initiatives and several conversations about the need to establish development initiatives for the posterity of the constituency.

As a part of this team it was important to emphasize the fact that our community’s wealth lies in the discipline and vision of its community and leadership. As a part of this team we needed to play a committed role in seeking out the opportunities and the solutions to the situations the constituency faced and to navigate and defend our resources in the interest of a better life. After almost 20 years of poor leadership that had seen the rate of drug abuse, HIV increase within the community this team needed to entrench a leadership that ensured perpetual regeneration and refinement to suit the social, economic and technological changes in today’s world. It was important that this leadership would ensure that the community’s hard-earned freedom rewarded them with abundant wealth and not punished them with chronic poverty.

 

As a part of this team we were able to initiate the Tunajibu kwa Maisha Bora Campaign that committed to unshackle the communities mind and heart from tribal, religious and ethnic affiliations that would enhance their prosperity in diversity

Within the CDF, we had 40 Project Committees each with a membership of 20 members. As Secretary of the CDF, I managed the US $ 2 million (Kshs.124 million) Development Fund, with a portfolio of 67 community projects. For 2 years in a row our committee ranked Number 2 out of 210 constituencies countrywide. This independent survey and ranking was carried out by the National Tax Payers Association and The Ministry of Planning.

The CDF Act requires that every committee set up under the Act must have an NGO within it. I was the Executive Trustee of the Mvita CDF. Under the ambit of my authority, I pursued a number of funding proposals for the community. This included raising US $ 200,000 from the Ford Foundation towards establishing an information education and communication strategy for young people in Mombasa and leadership in education in the Coast Province. I also managed a UNEP and Bamburi Cement Ltd funded waste water and drainage project within Mombasa City. The project cost $ 50,000 and was completed satisfactorily. The projects are still running.

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2.      The Mariakani Town Council

At the heart and soul of our towns and cities in Kenya, is the provision of basic needs by public sector institutions in response to basic human rights of our culturally diverse community of residents.

As the youngest appointed Councilor at the age of 26, I was part of the Mariakani Town Council with specific responsibility from the Minister of Local Government to ensure effective operation of the Town Council. I joined this team in a year when the Ministry of Local Government needed to streamline the number of local authorities in the country. As part of this team I was able to get the team to identify with the economic potential of the local area and ensure that its management provided an opportunity for the community’s economic prosperity.

In the implementation of my duties I was able to chair the first probe committee looking into the restructuring of financial management, human resource structures and systems of the Mariakani Local Authority. As part of this team I was able to work in liaison with Ministers, Permanent Secretary’s at the national level and chiefs and village elders at the rural level. Part of the plan currently informs the existing development plan of the Town Council.

3.    The National Union of Students (NUS) Presidents Network

Every year over 300 further and higher education institutions in the United Kingdom receive revenue from three main sources – government grants, research grants and international students. It is estimated that approximately 500,000 students from countries all over the world are admitted to these institutions of higher learning. It is further estimated that annually this contribution amounts to approximately £ 8.8 billion. (Approximately the same amount of money that the British Government spends on foreign aid annually!)

As one of the first African students to be elected as Student Union President and having the honor to participate in the NUS network of Student Union Presidents, I was part of a team that participated in the Tuition Fees debate and campaign in 1999/2000. In the previous years that this debate had taken place, the voice of foreign students was unrepresented. My participation in this team was able to lend new insights into the challenges that foreign students faced despite their 30% representation within the various universities.

My opportunity to work within this team enabled me to engage with senior members of the major political parties, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Commonwealth Office, foreign embassies, the Exchequer and the department of education among other senior university officials. This opportunity enabled me to identify with and get to network with this diverse group of stakeholders. This relationship enabled me to relate to the situations that international students were going through and get them to think about including some of these concerns into the drafting of any tuition fee policy. In the drafting of this policy, as a team we were able to ensure that foreign students were offered the opportunity to apply for at least 1 year stay to remain in the U.K, should they qualify for any employment opportunity after graduation. This opportunity allowed foreign students especially from developing countries to gain opportunities to horn their skills prior to returning home. This we considered a fair return on investment on the part of the U.K Government.