Transforming A Nation Conference: A hit or a miss?
The long awaited conference of the year indeed! As the conversation slowly fades let me put it to rest. The number of ‘I’m busy‘ responses got from the organizing manager could fill my cup of wishes, but nonetheless, through his mercies we got an invite for the very least, I hope you did, if not, here are the snippets! Disclaimer, this is not your usual corporate reporting do your due diligence and follow Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for more information on what went down. This is Just a blog!
Point to note, attending these conferences can be draining, and can sometimes feel like a waste of time, but you need to have a mission set for yourself,if at all you are not part of the speakers, moderates or panelists. The List Ke had two goals which we can report we conquered, some which have started bearing fruits. It is always upon the individual to know what exactly you want, not just cute photos, but those also go a mile,I mean it all depends on you. Too much talk let’s get into the conference.
REPRESENTATION: “A great title but a big title for a Two day conference ” Caroline Kanter , I completely agree. This could have easily been a whole week conference. With the great title however, there was little representation of people living with disabilities, we had one deaf guy who the first daughter had to come in and translate for him, on the first day,we applaud her, but that was a miss for sure! We cannot be discussing issues to do with transforming a nation while there is no proper representation of different people in the society, in addition the men to women ratio was at 6 : 1 respectively. However, there was a good representation of youths from different counties which was commendable although if we were to give TMI it was the usual young people we meet at these political meetings, it gave ‘funkie’ vibes, impact and representation probably at 4/10.
SPEAKERS: “It is quite unfortunate that the government sent in representatives like our sister Susan Mang’eni, the Kenya kwanza government downplayed the conference” H.E Kalonzo musyoka. Those were his remarks, which if you watched the live stream you will see that the PS was quite rude to one very notable moderator at the end, which justifies the remarks made by the former vice president. The conference had a great line of speakers for example H. E Musalia Mudavadi, CS Aisha jumwa among others, who sent in representatives. It would have made a great impact if they just showed up themselves, they really downplayed the conference. But the one and only Baba Raila Odinga saved the day! He showed up and showed out! Gave very strong remarks that overshadowed the lack of proper representation from the government on such an important conference. Stole the show, indeed he saved face! A solid 6/10.
PANELISTS: “The state of the Kenyan economy depends on who you ask, if you really want to know how the economy is doing then ask the barber shop guys, however it is much better to spend our time knowing what’s next” remarks by Prof X.N. Iraki. “We have to tighten our belts for a little bit, it has also been tough for me” remarks by Hon Ndindi Nyoro. “This is the Tanga Tanga government, it has worked locally it should work internationally and we must always be peddlers of hope” remarks by GOK spokesperson Isaac Mwaura. Too much was said, quite eloquent and very convincing individuals.The best set of panelists that I’ve seen in Conferences, that was a hit for sure. 8/10.
MODERATORS: What makes a good moderator is how people in the room engage , and even ask for more time to respond .Asking the right questions, handling the room as well as being well versed with the said topic. Top of the list were Olive Burrows, Purity Museo and Maurine wanyonyi without fear of favour, they handled the panel discussions with precision, vigour and discernment. Generally the set of moderators were a hit. 8/10.
Too much to say, but that was a good show for the winners. We can only hope that there will be a follow up on the issues discussed and even a bigger and better transforming a Nation Conference years to come. For the very least the dress code should have been to wear Kenyan made, it would have made a little bit of impact to the Kenyan designers according to Azimio Spokesperson Fredrick Okango listen Here for that commentary! We hope to see a good representation of the hustlers at least sitting on the panel or even as speakers for transforming a nation discussion to make more sense. All said and done, we applaud the organizers ,for a start that was good, it will be better next time! It was a hit 7/10
For more information on the thematic areas discussed click Here. Let’s hope The List Ke gets an invite after this brutal and honest article. See you on the next blog!
