EAC (East Africa Community) diaspora bonding

By Jackson Ngari
All study and no play don’t just make Jack a dull boy, it kills the potential to research, discovery and mastery; a little play creates flexibility, innovativeness and is refreshing. Thanks KCK for turning up to a fun filled Saturday.
Majority of KCK members are post-graduate students and unless summer is utilized in such a way as was experienced on Saturday July 11, it’s likely some can end up losing the momentum to study, research, and come up with good dissertations along their fields of study.

Over 129 people gathered from 7 countries with the majority coming from the host countries Kenya and Tanzania. Participants from Congo, Ethiopia, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, were excited on the sports prospects and promised that next year they will bring bigger teams.
Most encouraging was Cameroon who called the VC and said they want to be included in the planning and fully participate come next year. KCK can now brace for a full day sports come next year, for it will be an expanded sports day, better and greater.

Ambassador Mohamed Abdi Gello, Kenyan envoy in Seoul, graced the EAC sports day at Seoul National University Main Field on Saturday, July 11 2015.
In his remarks he encouraged the East African Community to change stereotypes that many people have about Africa, influence reforms, engage each other more positively as diaspora and pursue knowledge transfer for the benefit of their respective motherlands. Ambassador Gello confirmed that EAC has now been formalized back at home and this relationship has great impact in strengthening the new born baby.

The Guest of Honor Ambassador Gello flagged off the sports activities at 2:30 pm. On the program were fun games like sack race, wheel barrow race, among others. That was followed by short races, climaxing with soccer between Kenya and Tanzania. The Tanzania team went home with the trophy.
The most active sports person of the day went to Rachael Mutinda 10 years old for participating in most of the fun activities and carrying the ceremonial soccer ball for soccer kick-off.
During the a 30-minute break the Guest of Honor and the executive boards of the host countries Kenya and Tanzania were introduced and made speeches as follows:

Ambassador Gello, touching on Diaspora Affairs, was happy to note that the Kenyan government has recognized Diaspora community as an important socio-economic pillar. It was noted that remittances from Kenyans in Diaspora have steadily grown in the recent past. According to the Central Bank of Kenya, remittance inflows to Kenya increased by USD137 million or (11 percent) in 2014, to USD 1,428.5 million compared with USD 1,290.6 million in 2013. He further noted that Kenyans living abroad can take home a car duty free as long as the type of a car is Kenya traffic compliant. He gave an example of the KIA Sportage Model. KCK members were excited to hear that.
The Guest of Honor was accompanied by Deputy Head of Mission, Kenya Embassy, Chege Gathoga. Together with them were members of staff from the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya who came with their families to participate in the sports.

Ambassador Gello said that Kenyans abroad are a good human resource and he pledged to work with Kenyans in Korea. He encouraged Kenyans to register themselves through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diaspora portal so as to be updated on opportunities at home and beyond among them the National elections that are coming in August 2017.

▲From left, Clare Ayisi, Gracakiboi and Ann Ndutachege

At the sports meeting, KCK Executive Board (Kenyans Living in Korea) who was the brain child of the sports emphasized the importance of togetherness. Speaking on Behalf of KCK the chairman Dr. Benson Kamary was glad that KCK has grown in many aspects and warmly welcomed our friends from the East African community to join hands and work together for the betterment of strongly founded community in Diaspora.

On his part the Chairman Tanarok--Tanzanians living in Korea-?stressed the importance of coming together and creating a strong EACC in diaspora. He thanked the guest of honor, Ambassador Gello, for gracing the occasion. He further promised unwavering support of future joint activities with his executive board, in order to enrich and strengthen this newly founded collaboration

About the author:
Mr. Jackson Ngari, vice chairman of the KCK Executive Board, is a PhD student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, Seoul.

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