Internet Society Kenya chapter holds 2018 AGM

It is all systems go for the Internet Society Kenyan Chapter, which held its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, 24th November 2018 at Huawei Centre, Nairobi. The AGM was held on the sidelines of the resoundingly successful two-day Internet of Things Workshop titled “Defining the Internet of Things (IoT) Landscape: Today and Tomorrow”.

Participants at the Annual General Meeting were able to interrogate the annual Executive Reports on projects and programmes of the Kenya Chapter before proceeding to the elections of new officials.

The Internet Society Kenya Chapter has over the past two years, post rejuvenation, actively engaged in award winning projects and activities, especially in community engagement initiatives and programs aimed at increasing Chapter membership. The outgoing Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Vice Chairperson, Athena Morgan, was congratulated by the members for impressive performance in fulfilling the mission of the Internet Society in Kenya.

In his closing statements, Eng. Wainaina stated:

“The Internet Society Kenya Chapter will collaborate with other stakeholders to strengthen an independent, impactful and sustainable platform where citizens can participate in development of relevant Internet Policies, Standards, Development and Capacity Building programmes towards an open Internet for all. Internet Society was conceived as the place for all of us who share the same values for an open, globally-connected Internet to come together to connect, share experiences as well as learn from each other”. This re-energised society will build upon projects such as Maisha Endelevu, Shule Tarakimu, UNESCO Swahili Wiki Project, Community Networks, Child Safety Online, Capacity Building projects and Chapterthons to more sustainable impact on the communities in Kenya.

New executive committee elected

The newly elected Executive Committee, mandated to spearhead work of Internet Society Kenya Chapter for the next two years, was formally introduced to the General Meeting. The Committee will be led by Eng. Wainaina Mungai as Chairperson, assisted by Hellen Kariuki as the Vice Chairperson. The Chapter Secretary and Treasurer will be Mr. Otieno Antony and Mr. Joel Okomoli respectively who were re-elected for a new term.

Also elected to the Executive Council were Heads of the Standing Committees, who include Miss. Lizz Meigo, Miss. Elizabeth Lepapa, Mr. Hawi Rapudo and Dr. John Nyambega, who will chair Finance & Budget, Public Relation & Communication, Membership & Outreach and Research & Technical Committees respectively. The outgoing Vice Chairperson, Ms. Athena Morgan, was appointed to head the new Temporary Committee on interests of persons with Special Needs that the Executive Council formed during the AGM.

Collectively, the Executive Committee and the Heads of the Standing Committees will make up the Executive Council which is the management organ of the Chapter. The Council will hold a formal orientation program on the management of the Chapter in line with its 2016-2018 Strategic Plan to be aligned to the 2019 Action Plan of the global Internet Society. The Chapter Board of Trustees, who include Mr. Robert Muendo, Miss Grace Bomu and Mr. Nahashon Njenga, were also elected at the Annual General Meeting.

Congratulations are in order

Eng. Wainaina Mungai congratulated the Executive team for coordinating a successful IoT Workshop that brought together Policy makers, Regulators, International research and advocacy groups, students, startups, academia and industry representatives in support of Internet Society. He took note of the developing multi-stakeholder approach that led to election of professionals from other ICT and Internet policy institutions, academia and government as members of the new Executive Council.

He called on members to adopt the collaborative spirit of the Internet Society to have a more impactful and sustainable ISOC Kenya Chapter. The Executive Committee will circulate a Calendar of activities, proposed minor amendments to the Chapter Constitution and shall be calling on members to submit their input to the participatory project selection process.

The incoming Vice Chairperson, Ms. Hellen Kariuki, expressed gratitude for the support received from the event sponsor – Huawei Kenya, partner organisations including Strathmore University and Internet Society Africa Bureau, speakers from the Communications Authority, the ICT Authority, GSMA, IBM, eBiashara and other sectors, ISOC members and officers of the Chapter.