Written by Carolyn Wamalwa 2011-12-17 17:22:00 Read 2240 Times

Christopher Sifuna Khaemba, commonly known as CSK.

When Kenyans took to the ballot in August 2010 to endorse the new constitutional order, their counterparts from the third most populous county- Bungoma County, too, participated in the process.

The endorsement of the document was to later give these Kenyans a chance to route for a manager to serve in the capacity of county governor as provided under chapter 11, Article 180 of the new order.

Indeed professionals have declared their interest in being entrusted with the responsibility of managing Bungoma County; with the promise of providing the county with a new beginning devoid of divisive politics and mere propaganda, most of which serves a detrimental agenda, beneficial to a few.

With less than a year to go, the journey, judging from the activities on the social media, is fast gaining momentum.

Christopher Sifuna Khaemba, commonly known as CSK is one of these candidates who has declared his interest to become elected as the pioneer manager of Bungoma County, with the aspiration to reform and/or restructure various establishments, work on untapped investments and revolutionalize the county’s economic and social viability.

He is a man who has spent his professional life as an educator, offering his services both at the local, national and at the international levelThis calm and soft spoken gentleman, a husband and father of four believes he holds what it takes to level the destiny of Bungoma County, which currently features in the last quarter of the most powerful counties countrywide among the best performing counties.

Born in Maeni Location in Kimilili, in January 1960, CSK is the eldest of the 13 children to the late Daniel Wekesa Khaemba and Rachael Nabalayo Nasumbu.

CSK holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Kenyatta University; he built his academic foundation at Kamukuywa FYM Primary School and later joined Maseno National School before pursuing a Diploma in Science at the Kenya Science Teachers College which was followed by the MBA.

Khaemba is a man who has a vast professional background. Before settling for politics, CSK has managed two national schools in Kenya and an international institution in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He was the head of Friends School Kamusinga between the years 1995-1998 and later joined Alliance High School from1998-2008.

 In Kamusinga, he managed to rehabilitate facilities, restored high academic and co-curricular performance as well as the school discipline and a prudent management system.

Local and foreign Media reports have depicted CSK as a philanthropist and sympathizer, who during his tenure as head of various education institutions never let any student wallow in despair by dropping out of school on grounds of inability to settle fees.

A documented case in one of the local dailies gave an account how Mr. Khaemba while heading the Alliance high School assisted an elderly student stay in school, despite his inability to secure his school fees.

He has also served as the General Manager in charge of the Education Pillar at Equity Group Foundation; vested with the responsibility of managing relations with education partners and running the program which oversees High School Scholarships, Pre- University programs including college placements.

In the year 2008 Khaemba was selected as the founding dean of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he served between 2008- 2010.

The task he says was overwhelming, since he was meant to establish the Pan African School in a foreign country, recruit students from across the continent, the US and Europe, develop a curriculum, various structures and hire staff to fulfill the mission of the academy.

He eventually succeeded in piecing the daunting task together which saw the successful setting up of the institution.

His financial management record exhibits his position with regard to accountability. While working at the African Leadership Academy, CSK managed to Link the Academy to more than 200 universities across the World and within a span of two years, he had successfully established a World class School with massive donor funds that enabled more than 80 pc of students get free education.He has in his capacity as dean helped secure admissions as well as employment opportunities for Kenyans in the same institution.

“By the time I left more than 45 Kenyan students out of a students’ population of 270, had been admitted to the Academy. In the initial class, 12 Kenyan students got admitted to the top global universities, with the majority getting 90 pc financial support. I hired five members of faculty and one College Counselor from Kenya.” He says.

Khaemba has been feted as an influential person both locally and on the global front including:

Having received 4 commendations from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In 1998, the then president of Kenya Daniel Arap Moi awarded Khaemba with a Distinguished Service Medal over his impeccable work as principal at Friends School Kamusinga.

Christopher Khaemba with the Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Prof. Olive Mugenda at a past function.

He was in the year 2003 Voted citizen of the year by Kenyans residing in the U.S. over his campaign for the support of the poor boys.

In 2006 CSK received the Head of State Commendation from the President of Kenya over his contribution towards the development of Education in Kenya.

Later in the year 2007, he was cited by the East African Standard as one of the top 100 most influential Kenyans alongside the late Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai.

Having worked and interacted with influential personalities around the globe, Khaemba says he would love to replicate in Bungoma County certain values that he has acquired in his line of duty; of which include accountability especially during the implementation of projects, competitive hiring, deployment of ICT tools, strategic partnerships and maximizing resource mobilization structures for posterity and maximization of outcome.

He describes the youth, who according to the 2009 population census are estimated to have a population of 365,624 as the foremost resource unto whom resources must be apportioned and jobs created in order to harness their unexploited vibrancy and thus contribute towards wealth generation in the county.

He explains as unfortunate the state of the youth, who form majority of the entire county’s population, are well educated, being graduates of universities and mid- level colleges, but have been left to fend for themselves, more so, have been locked out of deserving opportunities.

He emphasizes that they should be quipped with better responsibilities to serve in bringing transformational changes and development in the innovation driven economy. “The youth’s creativity needs to be deployed.”

School drop- outs also form part of this insolvent group. Khaemba regrets that once out of school, this lot is not engaged in income generating activities, whereas the few with basic skills succumb to jobless as a result of the hostile job market- a situation he believes can be corrected once proper policies are employed.

with the help of his campaign team, Khaemba has in the past few months crisscrossed the County with the aim of engaging the youth, women, opinion leaders and locals amongst them farmers, in seeking their indulgence, so as to get acquainted with looming problems in the county, most of which are not new to him, having been born and raised in the region.

This he believes will enable him implement far reaching solutions once elected.

He explains that the meet- the- people tour serves as an on the ground analysis which has enabled him get accustomed with the diverse communities and cultures of the Bukusu, Sabaot, Tachoni, Batura, Teso, Wanyala, Muslims, Christians and others.

He hopes to understand their concerns and aspirations ensure that their interests are well protected as provided under the new constitution as well as equitable mobilization of human and financial resources. “We hope to see that all inhabitants of Bungoma County see themselves as one community.”

CSK reveals that he envisions bringing innovation in education, agriculture, trade and in finding workable solutions to problems standing in the way of the aforementioned issues.

Known as an individual who has in the past actively participated in fostering change in the local, national and international scenes, in terms of development of the most valuable resources, he believes that “when we inject creativity, there are workable solutions available that will enhance productivity of our land, jobs for our youth, income for our families, education for our children, opportunities for our business people and hope for a better tomorrow for all of us.”

Khaemba envisions the revival of top standards of various sub-sectors in the agricultural sector including coffee co-operatives in Kimilili, Sirisia, Mt Elgon, Chebukupe to match up the unrivaled performance record they held in the 70s.

Another sector that he holds as key to the development of Bungoma County is ICT. He hopes to engender ICT up to the remotest set up of the county in a bid to empower locals, who he supposes once they adopt this kind of technology, will be in a position to monitor the utilization of their resources and appraise the performance of institutions and will all be involved in the management of the affairs of the County.

 “Coca Cola has found a way to offer a cold soda in the remotest parts of the world. There cannot be a reason good enough why any part of Bungoma County should not have access to computers and Internet. Online open data resource will be a vital tool empowering our People,” he says.

He confirms that more opportunities for the county are in the pipeline and that it is just a matter of better management and sound minded leadership that can help in the realization of development conscious policies which will be responsible for the transformation of Bungoma County which has the potential of becoming top in performance countrywide.

Khaemba adds that the region has the best of brains to help execute the dream set up, of which the region has been deprived for ages, produce commendable structures, create development avenues, encompass entrepreneurship and create employment opportunities among other tenable provisions.