Nerima Wako is the Executive Director of Siasa Place (https://siasaplace.com), an organisation she founded in 2015 to create an enabling environment for youth to understand and engage in politics.
The mission of Siasa Place is to inform and engage in how politics directly affects Kenyan communities and society through practical and relatable communications and strategies.
Nerima is the third born in a family of four, is married and blessed with one child and she has a passion for stories.
She is a new mother. “I am a middle child and a very stereotypical one. I love stories, so whether it's watching movies, reading books or writing,” said Nerima.
Her passion for youth affairs and governance inspired her to establish Siasa Place.
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“I did not plan to start an organisation. As a matter of fact, I was working at a place that I enjoyed. But I noticed a gap that existed,” she said.
Her programme was focused on young people in an international organisation she worked for, but she hardly engaged with youth-led groups and she craved a more practical engagement.
“So, I started my organisation. Naturally, it was a very slow start. I was mixing consultancy work so that I could make some money and balancing with starting an initiative. I was broke and tired most of the time. I would get home very late in the night late because I would work from 7am to 3pm and then focus on my organisation from 4pm to around 10pm,” she remembered.
A typical day would see her working until midnight, including on weekends. This meant her social life was almost non-existent when she returned to Kenya to start the new initiative.
However, lady luck smiled on her and she received her first cheque of Sh250,000 from a donor who wanted to invest in her organisation.
“We conducted an event for the client, and most of the money went towards the event. People who volunteered on that day got Sh2000 as transport token. I remember taking a picture of the cheque for future reference.
“I was so happy that someone else saw what I saw. It made me believe that I was headed in the right direction.”
Siasa Place now boasts of several achievements. In counties like Busia and Kericho, there are real-life stories of how teaching the youth on public participation has seen communities solve issues like access to safe drinking water, accessible market space and youth employment.
Siasa Place is a recognised voice and recently led protests against skewed presidential appointments and challenged the nomination of Mary Wambui to head the National Employment Authority Board in court and won.
She basks in the glory of being an Obama Leaders Fellow of 2018.
“It was a great honour to be selected to be in that space; great young minds surrounded me. It was eye-opening to learn the fantastic things that young people were doing in their countries. The networks built have opened opportunities for me. I also met young politicians who were currently serving their terms, and I realised they had challenges very similar to issues in our country.”
She had access to limitless material and her organisation took as much as it needed for its growth but she also learnt a critical lesson.
“Here is the lesson: A lot of people enter politics to grab. Get as much as they can as quickly as they can. But here, I was taught there was enough for everyone. If only we lived that way, we know when to say, this is enough, our politics would be so different. And we would never look at politics as the only avenue to loot and gather wealth.”
She invests a lot of her time in Future Africa Leaders, and often offers mentorship to young emerging leaders in Kenya and across the continent.
“It is difficult to be a mentor like me because I take it seriously. I believe in living the advice that I give. I can't preach water and drink wine. When you are a mentor, you have people looking up to you and seeking your advice. So, I give it my all. And that has allowed me to see different sides of a person, the pieces that make one a complete human.
“In many instances, people want to be my mentees because they see my organisation's success, but they rarely see my struggles at homefront or even with my education. Basically, we all have downfalls, and it's just fine. No one is perfect. As a mentor, I have allowed myself to be vulnerable and sometimes to say, I don't know, but I am happy to try.”
Nerima has learnt to balance her personal and professional life to ensure success in both fronts.
“If you are unhappy at home, it can affect your job. They are intertwined, so I try to teach that with the people that I mentor. To help them see all the various aspects of what makes us human.”
As the Executive Director of Siasa Place, she leads a political hub for women and youth to learn about governance, the Constitution and electoral processes. So, what’s her vision for Siasa Place?
“My vision for Siasa Place is for it to be a place that channels out young people who understand the Constitution and processes of participation. Active youth who want the better for our country. So, I see Siasa Place growing to be an institution that teaches these things and grows to be a centre for policy analysts and governance experts.”
Siasa Place has a program specifically targets women - Women at Web. This deals with the issue of many women being bullied online forcing them to either leave the platform or limit their engagement and, in the process, barring them from so many opportunities.
“Think about women politicians, for instance, they use social media for campaign and voter engagement. But when they experience bullying online, they shy off and leave the platforms. Some of them miss out because they do not how these platforms work.”
Siasa Place has two other programmes, Siasa Talk and Zivik, which promote youth participation.
“We engage youth in community approaches and encourage them to find solutions to community issues while being proactive in holding the county leadership accountable. We are big on youth participation and inclusion.”
Each Wednesday, the organisation conducts a Tweet Chat which discussing current national matters through their Twitter handle @SiasaPlace.
Nerima shared her thoughts on common mistakes women make regarding governance and participation in political and decision-making processes in Kenya. First lesson - patience.
“Majority lack patience. Be patient. This journey is grueling, tiring and slow. These things take time, and some start with so much energy, but they get burned out. I ask people to identify what their signs of fatigue are and take the most needed break. At a personal level, I am a work in progress. Last year, we had the whole organisation on compulsory leave because I realised that people were overworking.
Failing to save for a rainy day is another mistake she says women make that needs to change.
“They do not save for rainy days. In the beginning, politics tends to be slow. We have to pace our lives and work. And this also requires us being good with money. Start saving early for the long haul so that you have fuel to push you through. Politics can drain one financially so plan to have safety nets. Even as early as 18 years make savings a real business.”
She advices youth to look out for opportunities in governance and take steps to grab them.
“Lately, we have youth getting appointed to sit on boards. This is a significant milestone that should be celebrated. Previously, most boards had no youth representation. We are glad that we have now submitted recommendations to the government on specific policies that touch on youth. We are keen to follow on their implementation. So, youth must be on the lookout for these opportunities.”
Her organisation has come a long way and now has a youth consortium calling on the youth to serve in Kenyan organisations.
So, how does Nerima Wako describe her leadership style and how do others perceive her?
“I describe it as participatory. I like to hear people's opinions before I make a serious decision. And I think everyone's opinion is valid, from the intern to managers in my company. I like hearing new ideas. They excite me. Other people will tell you I am very particular; I pay attention to detail.”
Yes, many in her organisation and elsewhere describe her as hardworking and meticulous.
“Yes, I am. So, anyone who joins my team or organisation, they have to keep up. I only have space for hardworking people.”
Integrity and continuous learning are the two most important values she pins her life on.
“Integrity is so important; it goes a long way. Especially in a space filled with lies and deception, like the society we live in. That's what makes us stand out. Integrity is a big aspect in people's characters that I look out off and something that I practice at a personal level.
“Continuous learning. I enjoy reading up on things happening around the world when it comes to governance. I like being aware and informed. I like to see people going far and beyond.”
She ended the lively interview by painting a picture of the totally new world of work she would create for young people.
“Flexibility. We are sometimes stuck on doing things the same way or going to the office from 9am to 5pm. I rather have someone get the job done and done well early than pretend to be working just to pass the time. Give young people the freedom to choose."
Nerima Wako and Billian Ojiwa.
Nerima, who is married to Ficha Uchi Initiative founder Billian Ojiwa, believes we all have a duty to make our country stable.
“Stability for our country. We need to grow a new crop of young people concerned about good governance. A generation that loves and cares for our country; Kenya. We can't grow a business in an unstable country.”
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