This is year is finally coming to an end. It is understandable if you feel like you have lived through two years as opposed to one. We have all had our highs, lows , giggles and the occasional wailing when it was just too much. Here are the some of the key moments we have had this year.
1. Karibu Kenya
2015 was the year we had award winning actor Lupita Nyong’o make her way back home after successfully launching her career in Hollywood through her role in the ’12 years a slave’ movie. The star also held a Ksh. 10,000 dinner at the Villa Rosa Kempinski in support of the fight against poaching of elephants in the country
Barrack Obama United States President also made a trip back to his homeland , after Lupita , to a people eagerly waiting for him. POTUS is a monument of the African Dream which is an inspiration to many especially the young people. The icing on the cake was the Pope Francis visit.
2. Golden Moments
Julius Yego “The YouTube Athlete” won the Javelin Gold at the 2015 Commonwealth despite incurring an injury during the warm up session. The self taught javelin thrower almost bailed after the injury. Thankfully he did not, as he managed to put Kenya on the globe for something different as opposed to running.
Hosting the 10th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC10) was a big plus for Kenya. The event saw Kenya be the first African country to host the event. This was a big boost to the Kenyan economy as over 7,000 delegates attended the conference.
3. Hurdles
The education sector also had a month long teacher’s strike where twelve million students were out of school during the period. Many are hoping that reports of a looming strike in 2016 will not come to pass as this will derail an already troubled sector.
The corruption ghost showed its face again with various government officials losing their jobs. The epitome of the situation was when former Devolution and Planning cabinet secretary, Ann Waiguru tendered her resignation following graft claims waged against her department.
4. #ProudtobeKenyan
Kenyans have previously been named as one of the nicest people globally and this year was proof of that. Celebrated blogger Biko Zulu requested Kenyans to raise 1 million shillings for one Emmanuel Otieno whose struggle with brain cancer touched the hearts of many. Kenyan went ahead to give 6 million shillings in 48 hours eventually amounting to 7 million shillings. This brings to mind ‘KenyansforKenyans‘ campaign that raised 7.6 million for Kenyans who suffered hunger pangs from the 2011 drought.
5. Lyrically Speaking
This was a good year for all the music lovers. Some of the best Kenyan albums were released this year. From Sauti Sol’s ‘Live and Die in Afrika‘ to Mayonde’s ‘Magic in the air‘ and Kato Change’s ‘The Change Experience‘.
6. To those who loved
Sharon Mundia a renowned fashion blogger broke the internet with news of her fairy tale engagement with her fans pouring their congratulatory messages on the news. Anabel Onyango also got married this year to her longtime boyfriend Marek Fuchs , Sauti sol’s manager.
7. To the ones we lost
Kenya did not fall short of woes this year with terror attacks looming everywhere we turned. From the Garissa University attack that saw 147 lose their lives and 79 injured to the recent Narok County tribal clashes that erupted during the festive season.
The media industry also lost one one of their own, KTN news anchor Ahmed Darwesh while the acting fraternity lost veteran actor Benson Wanjau also known as ‘Mzee Ojwang’. We also mourned Fidel Odinga son to Raila Odinga whose life was cut short.
8. Heroes
‘Christians killed while Muslims are spared in an Al shabaab attack‘ is usually the story told. When Muslims shielded Christians against militant gunmen in a terror attack they brought a sense of brotherhood in the country that has never been felt before .
9. #KOT – Kenyans on Twitter
KOT can be the best people when you need to pass a message across but they can be your worst nightmare if you depict Kenya in a negative light. Global media houses like Fox and CNN felt their (KOT) wrath through the #Someonetellfoxnews and #SomeonetellCNN respectively. The latter actually had a CNN senior representative apologize to the President Uhuru Kenyatta for their headline that named Kenya as a ‘Hotbed of Terror’.
Good news is we have survived this year and we can only hope that 2016 will be much better.
Have a Happy New Year folks!