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REPUBLIC OF KENYA

THE PRESIDENCY

MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING

SPEECH BY ANNE WAIGURU, OGW CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING DURING THE PRIZE GIVING AND SPEECH DAY AT STATE HOUSE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL ON THE 5TH OF JUNE 2015

THE PRINCIPAL, MRS. MUTOTI,

FELLOW PARENTS,

STUDENTS,

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I am honored to have been granted this opportunity to address

you on this prestigious occasion. A prize-giving day is an important

event on any annual school calendar. Its an opportunity to look

back and take stock of our accomplishments over the last one

year. For some of us, the accomplishment is that we are still here

and still in one piece.

Today is of course about you the students. As such I shall

endeavor to be short and to the point. This is obviously because I

am addressing the twitter and instagram generation, a generation

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that has distinguished itself by reducing communication to 140

characters. We now live in the age of OMG, ROFL, THX, L8R, BRB,

LMAO, and the ever present LOL. I am reliably informed that you

teenagers dont even bother laughing at jokes anymore, you just

exclaim LOL.

Every generation distinguishes itself by unleashing a new wave of

creativity in language and communication. Take a look at sheng

for example, every generation has had a different version of its

own. Words like fathee and mathee and ponyi were quite radical

during my time, but today, I see young people roll their eyes in

confusion when we use these words. Such words are now antique

and some of you are finding me rather shady and out of date for

just making reference to these.

On a light note, let me share a story. A brother of a colleague of

mine after high school emigrated to the United States for fifteen

years in pursuit of education and job opportunities. Upon returning

to Kenya, he immediately sought to establish his street credentials

among his teenage nieces and nephews by speaking to them in

Sheng. He walked up to them and said nimeshikwa na ponyi

akaniambie nimpatie handa (translation: I was caught by a cop

and he asked for a hundred shillings). Sadly he was speaking the

Sheng of the 80s which had long since morphed into something

totally different. His teenage audience was completely lost and

instead of the guy looking cool, he sounded positively shao. Is

shao still in use by the way? Oh well.

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The point I am making here is that language changes; from Sasa

to WSUP. The means of communication also changes; from KBC to

youtube. The tools of communication also change; from hand

written letters to smart phones. In other words the only constant

thing in life is change. Change is ever present.

Girls! I assure you, change will happen in your lives, you will grow

older with every passing year; your social status will change from

secondary school girl, to college student and eventually to worker/

entrepreneur/ employer etc; society will demand of you different

things at different stages of your life; you will change from

daughter only to daughter and mother; technology will change,

and change the way you live. What I am saying is change is for

sure, and I am not prophesying, it just is!

As teenagers Im sure you are indeed familiar with the process of

change. You yourselves have been changing, through physical

maturity, emotional changes, changes in knowledge and even

social changes. How well you navigate this process of change, and

embrace the difference it brings determines how well you adjust

and become part of a community. The change process, is however

not always easy, it unsettles us, breaking our knowns and

thrusting us into unknown territory.

However despite its certainty, change is one of the most

mismanaged affairs of our daily living. We rarely prepare for

change, so when it happens, we feel vulnerable, and even

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sometimes fearful. Some resist it and cling to the familiar, while

other plunge almost thoughtlessly and stumble along the way. A

few, and I mean very few take calculated steps, inching step by

step, learning from the change and allowing the change to take

effect. Dr. Spencer Johnson, in his highly acclaimed best seller

Who moved my cheese depicts a character called Haw, who

learns to adapt quickly, when he sees changing can lead to

something better. This is what experts call change management.

How well you manage this change process, will however depend

on many things. Little consistent investments will need to be

made, in times of stability, to be drawn upon in times of change.

So what you deposit inside of you, through thought, written and

spoken word, or sight; and who or what you surround yourself

with is important.

In this regard, I want to leave you with three points.

Firstly, follow your dream. I know this phrase is now clich and

Lupitas expression that your dreams are valid has been thrown

around so much that it has lost some of its power. However,

theres tremendous power in our dreams. Every great achievement

starts as a dream. Every great building, every great company,

every great invention was once the figment of a persons

imagination.

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So do not be afraid of the power of your dreams. Figure out what

your passion is and work towards making a career out of it. Like

Steve Jobs said, Your work is going to fill a large part of your life,

and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is

great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you

do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

This process of self-discovery may take time but it is absolutely

important. It took me a long time for example before I figured out

that I wanted to be a CS. Im joking of course. Seriously though,

as a young girl in Precious Blood I wasnt sure about my future

career. But over time, through my studies and my interactions

with various people, I discovered that I cared deeply about public

service; that I cared deeply about serving my country. So my

advice to you is read widely and deeply; get involved in

extracurricular activities and consult those who have gone before

you. After some time a picture will emerge about your passion and

the most productive way to pursue it, and thus you can manage

the transition and change process into your career.

My second point is on the importance of cultivating good habits.

Success lies in developing a routine, in developing a culture of

discipline, and it often lies in doing the mundane things that we do

every single day. In the words of the ancient Greek philosopher,

Aristotole, we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not

an act, but a habit.

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One of the most instructive books I read in my adult life was The

Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. In it,

the author highlights 7 habits: one, be proactive. Being proactive

is accepting responsibility for our own behavior and making

choices based on principles and values rather than on moods or

circumstances.

Two, begin with the end in mind. This means be clear about

where you want to end up in life. Three, put first things first

meaning prioritize and manage time so that you focus on and

complete the most important things in your life. Four, think win-

win. Thinking win-win is a frame of mind and heart that seeks

mutual benefit and is based on mutual respect in all interactions.

Five, seek first to understand and then to be understood. In other

words, develop the culture of listening. Indeed, you have two ears

and one mouth, therefore, you should be doing a lot more

listening than you should talking.

Six, synergize. Synergy is achieved when two or more people work

together to create something better than either could alone.

Finally, the seventh habit is to sharpen the saw. Sharpening the

saw is about constantly renewing yourselves in the basic areas of

life: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Developing a strong

character, helps you navigate change better, because the

foundation is solid.

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My third and final point is: have faith. Lets have faith that when

we cultivate good habits and follow our dreams, the landing will be

a soft one. That everything will be okay. Because most of the time

it is, and even sometimes when things go wrong, you often look

back later on and can see some good things which might have

come out of it. Only when youve really committed yourself to

something do you really start to see new opportunities. Believe the

best, in every change process you go through.

As I conclude, let me say something. A couple of years ago an

ordinary girl from an ordinary family took up a difficult assignment,

an assignment that did not come with much in the way of an

instruction manual. The lady was not sure what lay ahead of her

but she had faith that she had developed certain habits that would

serve her well in her new assignment and she had faith in the

vision that her boss had set out for her. Two years later that lady

stands in front of you deeply honoured to have been a central part

of the devolution experiment that is now part of our social and

political infrastructure and a champion of the youth transformation

agenda. That ordinary girl is standing before you now.

That girl is a testimony that you dont have to have a certain

surname to make it in life; come from a posh background; or

marry an influential man. I am living proof that hard work and

excellence pays off. If you work hard and distinguish yourself in

what you do; strive for excellence at all costs; one day, people will

notice, and pick you out from the crowd and raise you up.

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I keep saying, as a woman, you need to work twice as hard to

gain half the recognition. This should however not discourage you,

this should energise you, to strive to be the best of the best and to

stand out from the crowd in everything you do. Success lies within

your reach, it is up to you, to reach out for it.

You too can be that girl. Cultivate the right habits, follow your

dreams and have faith.

Thank you and God Bless.