Kenyans Abroad Convene in Nairobi for Diaspora Summit

Another "Diaspora" meeting with no real goals or outcome. This started about 2010 or thereof in DC but I have not seen any real outcomes except networking ground and people comparing mine is bigger than yours - if you get my drift. Who is building where and how much.

Whoever you guys are, I believe you have some authority to effect changes sana sana for the diaspora.
The duo citizen was formulated by people who had no clue what it entails. You can even find job adverts saying "No duo citizens" This should not happen. Let citizenship be by birth or by naturalization. When people lost citizenship by becoming citizens of foreign countries, there was no paperwork in Kenya for that. They have no records. By allowing duo citizenship, there should be no paperwork either. To make me apply to be a Kenyan, whereas I was born in Kenya, I have a Kenyan passport, I vote, I own properties in Kenya .... it is just but ridiculous. A passport, an identity card or a birth certificate is and must be and should be the only proof of citizenship.

Another congregation of talkers with less to show. I bet you the entrance fee is Ksh. 50k with zero % going to charitable organizations for the needy!Bure kabisa!!!

Diaspora meeting has to be all Inclusive with an Agenda that is well articulated to address Kenyans living abroad allover the world. Consultative meetings and prior consultations has to be facilitated before such a meeting is announced. While this is a good thing to happen, the upcoming meeting does not meet the threshold of Diaspora representation.Subjectively, I would think that the top priority item of agenda should be creation of Diaspora Constituency with an MP to represent diaspora issues and Voting rights for all Kenyan in diaspora. Second on agenda should be eligibility of Kenyans in Diaspora to occupy not less than 25% of public service in the efforts to end corruption in Kenya.Diaspora has never been an underdog since independence. Countries that have surpassed Kenya with respect to economic growth have used incentives to recall back their professionals from abroad to help in the nation building of their motherland. Examples are Japan and China just to mention a few. The war on corruption will not be won by recycling corrupt workforce back onto public service, but can be greatly reduced by employing the technocrats from Diaspora community.Duo citizenship should grant any Kenyan in diaspora a chance to hold pubic office and be a participant in political dispensation of our country. Nationalism and patriotism is the hallmark of our citizenship in serving our country and push it to greatness as per the dreams of the Founding Fathers of our Nation.

Mungu Aibariki Kenya. One Kenya, One People.

Gitari D M'Mucheke
Ph.D Scholar Arizona State University
California- USA

Ochuodho - The days folks used to travel from overseas with shiny brief cases in the name of helping Kenyans are long gone - finito!! I do not understand why you and your team would travel across the oceans to address issues that are being debated by politicians in Kenya every day.

The biggest risk Kenyans face today is waste, fraud and abuse of resources and manpower through corruption. You have not even mention the weighty work of corruption in your agenda. Corruption is the worst I’ll destroying Kenya today.

Can you assure the average Kenyans that corruption will be addressed and tangible solutions put in place to deal with those who are stealing from Kenyans? Kshs 21 billion on fake dams, money stolen on shoddy roads that cost billions per mile, governors stealing at will while the high court judges sleep on the wheel, etc!

It is quite irrelevant to involve politicians in this meeting if you are not genuine enough to tell them exactly what they are doing to cause more pain to those who elected them. If you are involve Raila to discuss BBI, also involve those against BBI to air their views. You can call DP Ruto to share his BBI views. This matter was discussed in public two weeks ago and the Kenyan people knows best how to resolve the thorny BBI matters. You are just beating a dead horse just to say you addressed BBI matters.

Time has come when politicians need to put Kenyans first - they are there to serve the people who elected them and not to destroy a country many died fighting for freedom.

Your forum needs to be more focused in finding applicable ways to empower the Kenyan people; mainly within the country! Often, the International organizations have caused more damage doing trial and error makeshift projects instead of initiating workable profitable projects that ordinary Kenyans can build in line with the locally available workforce - for example - China is steal managing Nairobi-Mombasa railway - why?? Do you want to tell the Kenyan people they are not able to manage this asset?

I find it unnecessary to travel all the way to Kenya to hold a vacation meeting if thorny issues of corruption, employment, job creation incentives, etc are not on Ochuodho’s agenda. Stop fooling Kenyans; they have had enough nonsense from all over the place (to include the second generation of expatriates in the name of Kenyans living overseas)c, now they are demanding tangible actions to better their livelihood now and in the far fetched future!

Good points you raise, gentlemen. With the Convention only 4 days away, I can’t say much more, save for:-

1) The event last year realized 600 people from 44 different countries sign-in. So it’s usually as inclusive as it can get. KDA USA Inc operates a number of pre-event discussion forums. If interested, please contact info@kdhc.co.ke.
2) While KDA in it's 10 years of existence can’t claim to have achieved a mountain, there are tangible modest achievements it can cite:- delivering dual citizenship (push started in parliament in year 2001), voting rights success upto Supreme Court (though IEBC yet to implement fully, which is why we’re back in court), joining Mwende Mwinzi successfully in court to be Ambassador, raising diaspora awareness among Kenyan/African publics and governments, a diaspora experts’ database (www.i-vote.net), plans to establish 4-5 cancer treatment centers in different parts of the country (ground-breaking for the 1st starts Q1 2020), etc. With the participation of more hands, we can do more.
3) The event fees is not KSh 50k, but only 5k covering lunches and teas for all the 3 days. It’s therefore heavily subsidized. A proper lunch alone at Ole Sereni costs about 3k pp!
4) Apart from the Big 4 Agenda (food security/agribusiness, health/UHC, affordable housing and manufacturing), there’s also a session on “Software”, which includes Cross-Cutting issues like: Technology, HR, Funding, Governance, etc.
5) Lastly, few might be aware it is diaspora groupings that precipitated the handshake that brought some tranquility to the nation. At the height of election crisis around October 2017, KDA was the first to publicly call for dialogue, and went further to rally cultural leaders, business, clergy, civil society leaders, youth, mothers of the nation, academics, professionals and friends of Kenya (read ambassadors) to precipitate the handshake.

More of these agenda will be discussed at the Convention, and there will be live-streaming for those who can’t attend physically. Normally, thousands of diaspora across the globe follow and interact with speakers in real time!

Dr Shem Ochuodho, please be advised about some issues here;
1. Thé biggest crisis facing our dear republic, one which even threatens it's very survival, is plunder. So much has been stolen from the country’s coffers it’s amazing Kenya is still breathing. Some quick math will quickly illustrate that had proper management of our resources been part of this government’s agenda, you wouldn’t be talking about the Big Four. This is the most incompetent government of all time in Kenya’s short history of independence - way too many thugs purporting to be « leaders »
Your diaspora outfit, having a wealth of experience living and working in the developed world where systems work, should be at the forefront of pushing and fighting for better governance systems in the country, an effort that can go a long way in reducing debilitating poverty amongst many citizens
2. You also need to do a thorough study of how diaspora communities of countries such as China, Philippines, Malaysia and the like have helped transform their home economies for the better. Kenya continues to « appreciate » the contributions of it’s diaspora without ever realizing the great potential it has to massively transform our economy
3. You need to engage diaspora everywhere and listen to their grievances. There are many of us out here who have been so disappointed with government and systems in Kenya and we have chosen to stay put not because we don’t want to return to our motherland but because the system, the way things work, stinks. I am talking about corruption & incompetence - some of us have had to pull money - millions of shillings - out of Kenya back to our adopted countries just to have some piece of mind
4. Inviting Raila or a Uhuru or Ruto is simply politicizing this diaspora initiative that has the potential to do better. These three have absolutely zero clue about what ailing Kenya needs right now and should have gone home like yesterday wakafuge mbuzi jakwath - they are useless for the Kenya we want
5. As long as you don’t fully understand your constituency, you’ll remain with a few members calling themselves Kenya diaspora while the majority of us mind our business out here. I and many of my friends don’t give a damn about an organization that don’t fully understand us - our concerns and interests. Chief amongst them is a Kenya free of corruption and thriving which keeps it’s promise to it’s millions of youths and other citizens. Lack of war doesn’t mean peace

Mlachake and Maina, you make very good points. We unfortunately have a mutual lack of trust. Those living abroad don't like being viewed as sources of cash with no right to speak out about the flaws we see and are well aware that many are only too willing to scam us. Those in Kenya sometimes see us as people upon whom fortune smiled and in return we became overbearing, occasionally arrogant and way too willing to share our opinions without being invited. There is some truth to both arguments. Living abroad gives you an idea of what can be when public servants are just that, a traffic stop is not a shakedown, buying property is a straightforward transaction etc and we genuinely want kenya to do well as we want the best for the country and our families. Kenyans in Kenya prefer Kenyan solutions for Kenyan problems so we can't try to impose solutions from the outside and harping on everything we find exasperating, however true, only causes resentment. A resentful person won't listen. My two cents (with apologies to Maxiley), instead of doing business with large multinationals or wealthy well connected Kenyan companies, find a small business, build trust and use them for your business. It will not make you any money, but you can help a small business grow and thrive. I have done this for the last five years with a driver, a tour operator and a budding landscaper(who now employs 5 people). I am by no means the reason for these people's successes or failures but I would bet I help more than GoK or KDA ever did or ever will. I expect nothing other than good service and the knowledge that I am helping people support their families. The driver has the most difficult life so on the day he drops me off at the airport, I treat him to Java House and give him $20 to $25 as a thank you, not a tip. It's not much but it is tax free and without strings. I wonder how KDA helps the average small business while hobnobbing with rich politicians at ritzy hotels. Did any small business get a cut of the millions involved - concessions, transportation, catering etc - or was it all eaten up by Ole Sereni and whatever cartel its ownership is in bed with? Next time you are in Kenya, ask yourself how you can help someone realize their dream.

@mundumugo - as I would respectfully call you, “The Seer!” like the renounced Mugo Wa Kibiru, I salute you for perfectly articulating everything that I wanted to say! The war on developing Kenya cannot be worn until the ordinary Kenyans are fully engaged, listened to and given the respect they deserve in charting the way forward. It will take the entire diaspora village to assist where necessary!

KDA seems to think tangible change can only happen by involving those high profile elements who have dominated the political landscape for past 56 years. In fact these old cats have caused more grief than good as the constantly mislead the locals to satisfy their greed.

Some in the KDA seem to be planning forums in Nairobi to chart for their political road map back in Kenya; while they have nothing to show for what they did for Kenyans during the time they were elected politicians. Kenya has arrived at a “forked” road where the old politicians need to retire to pave the way for the energetic youth with vibrant locally driven ideas. The future of the country is more stable in their hands!

You cannot trust these old politicians as trustees of the diaspora community interests back home, and vise versa! In essence, I like how you have personally been involved in helping those who mostly need help whenever you travel back home! Hongela Ndugu!