As I begin to write this week’s series I am on board the now familiar flight from London (I have flown it four times this year!!) for a week long of high activity. I had come over as part of a small business delegation accompanying our Hon. Prime Minster (PM) the Rt. Hon Raila Odinga and seven other key ministers on a state visit to UK and also chair some board meetings for HelpAge International (www.helpage.org).
I was reflecting about how circumstances (or luck for those who prefer to call it so) plays into our lives. Eleven businessmen made it to the hurried invitation to join the PM’s delegation. We all had to pay our way and costs while in London. As luck would have it I had a ticket to London for the board meetings and all I had to pay was for the extra two nights stay!
On Tuesday morning we caught up with the PM’s delegation at the prestigious Dorchester hotel in London and I was privileged to have conversation with Hon. Mutula and Hon. Michuki and also met honorable ministers Kiraitu Murungi, Najib Balala,Moses Wetangula and Ibrahim Mohamed. I have not been in the presence of such a star-studded parliamentary group for a long time. We joked among us that it takes being in London to meet our ministers!! We later visited the Palace of Westminster where our PM gave a brilliant speech in the famous Chatham House on “Leadership and democracy in Africa” . I loved the way our PM handled the thorny question from the press on amnesty up! We also had an eye-opening visit the Financial Services Authority. Unlike Kenya where you have a multiplicity of authorities, the British have only this one and it makes sense!
The evening highlight was meeting the Diaspora –there was hardly a space to stand in the huge Cumberland hotel hall! The mood was full of excitement as minister after minister greeted the people and spoke about a bright future for Kenya. The PM again took the podium amid jubilation and spoke about “Kenyans having gone to the blink of the precipice; did not like what they saw and said never again!”. A young lady asked a question the PM handled so well I could give him my presidential vote for the future! She asked the PM how he intended to deal with the fact that his father was cheated to support Kenyatta; he was cheated to support Kibaki in 2002; and 2012 is around the corner. The PM drew a perfect parallel with Nelson Mandela and spoke about forgiveness in a manner and tone of a great leader!
The highlight on Wednesday was a breakfast with eleven businessmen and the PM. It was so cordial and fresh and it is quite clear that he is fully committed to driving the business agenda. I made the point, among others, to him that until politicians engage the business community, we will not make progress and Kenyan parliamentarians are notorious for snubbing business forums and often preferring to send their juniors to such business invitations!! One of the reasons Rwanda is making huge progress is the integration of business into politics where H.E. President Kagame has for example retained world renowned brains like Michael Porter and Rick Warren to be his advisors on various issues.
The afternoon was dominated by the Business Forum hosted under the auspices of the Commonwealth Business Council. Again the room was full to capacity as the PM gave his opening speech to the business community re-affirming to them that Kenya is back on the right track and that the grand coalition government is determined to make it work. Minister after minister then talked about their vision and how it marries to Vision 2030. Mutula’s optimism for Metropolitan Nairobi was delivered with passion!
Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta won my day with the stately delivery of his speech delivered with authority and like many others before him he reminded investors present that we were not on a begging mission but are inviting businesses for mutually beneficial partnerships in the new Kenya!
The evening was crowned by a dinner at he renowned Reform Club where a jovial mood crowned a successful sale of “Destination Kenya”.
Thursday and Friday were spent attending to the work of HelpAge International.
I spent much of Saturday walking the streets and visited some relatives for dinner. It is interesting to notice how few the “real” British people are on London streets- I would estimate that 80% of those walking the streets are not British- and that is what makes London money!
I spent much of my free time and in-flight reading on mentoring!
I was back on Sunday after a most hectic and fast-paced but successful week.
Eric Kimani Blog 