Kenyans in New England Set to Form Civic Organization,
Plan Madaraka Day Barbeque on Sunday June 5

Over a dozen Kenyans from different cities in New England meet for a discussion session that centered on finding ways and means to set up a Kenyan Civic organization in the area that will add to the efforts or other organizations at bringing Kenyans of all stripes together for a platform that will allow a smooth flow of ideas for the betterment of the rapidly growing community.The group has held two such meetings at the Dunkin Donuts on Drumhill road in Chelmsford, Ma and is calling on other Kenyans to join them at the same venue this Sunday for continued deliberations. pic by H.Maina/Ajabu Media

by Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News, posted July 17, 2011

CHELMSFORD, Mass.,_After many years of disunity brought about by a lack of clear cut community goals, many members of the Kenyan community in New England have signaled a willingness to form a united civic organization, to pave the way for a more cohesive community that will work for the betterment of the growing Kenyan community in the USA.

 To make the initial step towards the noble goal, about two dozen  known Kenyan community activists meeting over the last two weeks  in Chelmsford Massachusetts, have pledged to join forces and hold the first ever Madaraka Day celebrations on Sunday June 5 where all Kenyans from New England are invited to attend.

 The free outdoors event is planned to take place in Lowell, MA at a venue to be announced soon after arrangements are completed.

  Organizers are expecting to have many Kenyans from different groups including tribal, church, social, and professional backgrounds to come out in large numbers and take part in the Madaraka day celebrations.

 After brainstorming for suitable names, the ‘New England Kenyan Association’ was picked as the most suitable name, pending consultations with the majority of Kenyans in the region during the upcoming meetings.

The main goal of the organization is to bring together the members of the Kenyan community in New England to know one another better for the purposes of working together to advance their cultural, social and economic interests.

 Traditionally observed on the 1st of June in Kenya, Madaraka day refers to the day that Kenya attained the status of self governance , setting the stage for departing from oppressive colonial rule. This took place 1st June 1963, ushering in  the first ever Kenyan president, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who was previously a prime minister under the colinial masters.

During the two meetings held at the Dunkin Donuts restaurant in Drum Hill, Chelmsford, the dedicated Kenyans present said that they were inspired to act by the recent developments in the Kenyan community which indicated the time had come for such a noble idea.

 Among the developments was the statement from the Kenyan pastors who during the recent Easter day celebrations said they want to work together with the Kenyan community to chart a newly unified direction for the Kenyan community in Massachusetts that has been dogged by infighting and disunity when it came to running of civic and national affairs.

 An online survey carried out by Ajabu Media showed that the majority of Kenyans in New England believed it is time to form such an organization.

Out of the 320 individuals who responded to the survey, 80% said that an organization run by regular Kenyans is badly needed so that they can help their spiritual leaders have more time to minister to the community’s spiritual needs.

Peter Mwaniki of Lowell ( in white shirt) emphasizes a point to Miriam Wairimu as other Kenyans look on.

During the discussion forum on Drum hill, Kenyans present said that they are open and willing to work together with the newly formed Kenyan American Pastors Association and the newly formed Kenyan Diaspora Advisory Council to articulate the issues that are of absolute mutual importance to the average Kenyan as a member of the community and brainstorm for solutions in a transparent manner.

 This, the assembled members clarified, would be based on a pedestal of mutual respect as equal partners in developing needed structures for the community far from home.

  The pastor’s organization, KAPA,   brings together about 30 pastors who serve in various Kenyan community churches in New England, while the Diaspora Advisory Council formed in conjunction with the Kenyan Ambassador to the US, H.E. Elkanah Odembo serves as a bridge between the government and the community.

 "Both of these organizations are great and we appreciate them are they are part and parcel of the Kenyan community and have their specific roles", said Peter Mwaniki of Lowell Massachusetts, one of the Kenyans at the meeting.

 “However, they both do not adequately represent the civic needs of the common mwananchi in the grassroots since  the pastors are already overburdened by needs of their church members who may have pressing spiritual issues while the Advisory Council represents the Embassy.It is therefore important to have an organized group that can also represent the common man”, he added.

 Saying that the Kenyan community in New England has increased tremendously in recent times, the Kenyans voiced concern that the community did not seem to have any credible civic organization that can help the young Kenyans integrate with the wider community by providing opportunities for developing community structures through inter -community sports, charitable events, mentoring programs, leadership and talent development as well as youth sports league programs for the rapidly growing number of 1st generation Kenyan-American children among others.

A section of Kenyans applaud during one of the recent discussion forums held in Drum Hill.

 “It is sad that we spend so much money purchasing goods and services from American companies but do not have a Kenyan organization that can be used to lobby such companies for sponsorship to fund community events, even for scholarships for talented Kenyan children etc”, said Hosea Karanja from Lowell.

“We do need an organization for the betterment of the Kenyan community”, said Peter Thuo Karugu, a well known master of ceremonies in the Kenyan community.

Adding that women in the Kenyan community hardly get a forum for an opportunity to  present ideas and assist the community in getting together, Miriam Wairimu , a Bio technology researcher for a company based in Ashland Massachusetts said that  the idea to form this organization is highly welcome.

 “It is crucial that as a community we provide a platform where new leaders can have an opportunity to emerge and bring fresh ideas to the table every now and then”, said the young Kenyan with a good measure of non- profit organization management experience.

However, the Kenyans cautioned that it will take dedication and perseverance to see the organization come into shape within the community since in the past many others have been started but they never saw the light of day.

 They cited several problems which have caused the collapse of community organizations that started well only for them to die as quick, disapponuting the otherwise close- knit members of the community.

Among such promising organizations was the Boston Kenyan Association (BKA) that was started in Lowell around the year 2002, attracting many Kenyans happy with the intended ideals.

 “We had the BKA which started very well with a lot of membership but it collapsed very fast when leaders also started jostling for leadership positions in church”, said Joseph Kienja, a veteran Kenyan community activist from Worcester.

Kenyan men representing teams from diffrent cities in Massachusetts size each other up before the start of a volleyball match during the games held in Worcester in 2009. pic by Paul Maina, Ajabu Media

Other Kenyans present at the meeting and who were familiar with the BKA organization said that  when it collapsed, a lot of money (community funds) was lost as there were no structures for accountability and public transparency for funds raised through frequent auditing and public declaration of the results.
 
However, the Kenyans said that that failure by BKA and other community organizations did not mean that the Kenyan community is hopeless in terms of getting together and managing community affairs.

 They asked the community to learn from the past mistakes in order to make a better future especially at this time when many young first generation Kenyan- Americans are looking up to leaders for new ideas to create a positive environment where they will celebrate their Kenyan heritage with pride.

“We need to identify a few problems that we can work on for the benefit of the Kenyan community and do them well instead of trying to do everything”, said Humphrey Muigai from Fitchburg.

 “Let us all come together with a spirit of servant hood. Don’t look for positions, but  come looking to serve your community”, said Brian Waweru, a young Kenyan accountant also from Worcester.

Commenting on the plans for the new organization, Newton Kinity, a long time Kenyan community activist from New Haven Connecticut said that such a civic organization is a very good idea that needs the support of all people who are truly concerned about solving problems in the Kenyan community both in the Diaspora and in the motherland.

Brian Waweru, right, called for a servant attitude among Kenyans in New England in order to succeed in unity as Victor Rie listens keenly.

 “People need to come together so that they can know each other. We are so many here and sometimes you never get a chance to meet new people who are not members of your church”, said Kinity.

  “We need to form such an organization for Kenyans in New England to bring out ideas on how to improve our community both here and back home’, he added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by other Kenyans while speaking to Ajabu Media from various cities in Massachustts.

Among them were John Mundia from Randolph, Joseph Ngeene from Everett, Jamlick Wairimu from Brockton and Anthony Muitugu from Nashua, New Hampshire among many others.

Kenyans at the Drum Hill meeting added that such a civic organization can also play an important role at educating common Kenyans on civic matters that they may not be aware of such as issues on voting especially at a time when the new constitution in Kenya is recognizing the importance of it’s citizens in the Diaspora, providing them with an opportunity to vote in the upcoming general elections in 2012.

“There is a big disconnect between the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC, the   leadership of the Kenyan Clergy and the community”, said Tony Mithiga a law student from Everett Mass., who is also a member of the Diaspora Advisory Council.
 
 “We need this organization to play a connecting role to work together with the Advisory Council, and the Kenyan pastors so that we can educate Kenyan on a lot of things that they should know about", added the young aspiring lawyer.

 Apart from organizing the upcoming Madaraka day Celebrations, the Kenyans also vowed to pull their efforts together to support the Kenyan Inter-city Sports event which takes place every year in the summer but which has been plagued by lack of finances.

Miriam Wairimu, a Kenyan Bio-Technology researcher based in Ashland, Ma, who called for a truly united platform to enable quick flow of fresh ideas to improve the cultural, social- economic situation among Kenyans in New England.

Originally started and funded at one of the Kenyan churches in Lowell, the annual sports event has been taking place for the last 10 years, attracting hundreds of Kenyans of all ages to socialize and compete.

 However, the event has lately been poorly funded due to the inability of the church to continue catering for the growing numbers of participants especially at a time when the recession and other factors dig deep into church funds.

  Nonetheless, a handful of dedicated and selfless Kenyans supported by a few Kenyan owned companies including Ajabu Africa and DJ Fresh from Quincy have been donating  resources to keep the event running although not at the full capacity it should if well funded.

“We were at one time denied permission to use the sports fields and facilities at Umass Lowell to host this event because we were not an officially organized group”, said Elisha Ngugi while emphasizing on the dire need to form a united civic organization.

 Fellow Inter-City sports organizers, Moses Njenga and Hosea Karanja attested to the regretful situation.

“They asked us for our organization’s name and website and since we did not have any, we were disqualified from using their facilities. We definitely need this organization”, said Moses Njenga.

 The Kenyans  at the meeting said, that a meeting will be held next week, Sunday May 22 at the same venue on 80 Drum hill road at 4 pm to continue deliberations where all Kenyan community activists and any other concerned Kenyans from anywhere in the New England region are invited to attend and air their concerns with a goal of mending divisions in the community.

Tony Mithiga, a law student at Mass Law School emphasizes a point as Elisha Ngugi, a long time organizer of Kenyan Inter-City sports competition looks on.

 “I think this is something that we have all been longing to see happen”, said Paul Waithaka, publisher of the Kenya Monitor newspaper based in Brockton while expressing the desire to join other Kenyans to find a common solution to move the community forward. 

During the meeting on Sunday, the concerned Kenyans  said they hoped to find volunteers to form an interim committee which will coordinate efforts to hold free and fair elections for anyone who may have an interest in serving in the intended community organization.

 “We welcome all willing people from all professional and social backgrounds to come and help get the structure of this organization in place. This will be very helpful for all the future generations of Kenyans in the New England region”, said Victor Rie, also from Worcester.

Among some of the successful African immigrant community civic organizations mentioned at the meeting included the Cameroon Social club (CAMSOC), the Ugandan North America Association (UNAA) a Liberians civic organization that, according to Rev. Troli Krua, a Liberian community activist and pastor based in Boston, has successfully helped about 17,000 Liberian immigrants attain permanent residency status in the US since inception not too long ago.

The Cameroon Social club will hold it's 'All Cameroon Cultural Day Celebration' on July 2, 2011 in Watertown Massachusetts while the Ugandan North America Association will hold the much awaited 23rd annual convention from September 2 to September 4, 2011 in Denver, Colorado.

The Kenyan community meetings were put together by Ajabu Africa News in the capacity of the largest media organization used to pass important public information in the Kenyan community, and in the region.

This was done after repeated requests by many members of the Kenyan community, both the clergy and lay men eager for a public forum for open discussions which would pave the way for free and fair elections for anyone interested in playing a role in community leadership.

The next meeting scheduled for Sunday will start promptly at 4pm.

Getting to know fellow Kenyans: Kenyan youths introduce each other during the Kenyan Inter-City games day held in Worcester in 2009.The event has been poorly funded due to lack of a unified organization within the Kenyan community in Boston. The newly proposed New England Kenyan Association has vowed to fully fund the games this year. Pic by Paul Maina, Ajabu Media

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