Editor’s note: PERSONS OF THE YEAR Person of The Year is a series of articles recognizing the contribution of outstanding African men and women in their community and the world. This year the candidates were chosen by our team after looking at the impact the individuals had in our society.
Here are their stories.
DR. STEVEN WERE OMAMO, NEW GROWTH INT’L CEO IS PERSONS OF THE YEAR PERSON OF THE YEAR
By Maurice O. Ndole
Father, Son, Husband, Researcher, Innovator, Scientist, Leader, Diplomat, Author, Educator, and Humanitarian are just a few titles that describe Dr. Steven Were Omamo,PERSONS OF THE YEAR Person of the Year.
The Kenyan native is the CEO of New Growth International (NGI), a management consulting firm he co-founded in 2007 with his wife, Cheryl. NGI advises and educates clients in the agrifood and education industries, helping them to find innovative solutions and improve performance in their fields.
He is the former United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) Country Representative in Ethiopia and a world-renowned agrifood expert and he is part of the 2020 WFP team that won the Nobel Prize, a major accomplishment for the humanitarian organization that feeds millions of people facing starvation in unglamorous conflict and hardship zones.
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DOMTILLA CHESANG, HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER IS PERSONS OF THE YEAR WOMAN OF THE YEAR
BY Steve Mokaya
For at least five years, Domtilla Chesang has trotted up and down the undulating terrain of West Pokot County. Her calling is, responding to mayday calls and distress signals of girls and women staring the face of gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and early marriages– life’s destiny-shattering practices in some African communities.
Since 2017, the woman trained to be a high school teacher has yet to practice her bachelor of education degree. She says her efforts of weeding out the abuse of rights of womenfolk have paid off handsomely, which gives her immense pleasure, more than the several national and international accolades she has won, thanks to her community work.
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PETER NDEGWA, SAFARICOM’S CEO IS PERSONS OF THE YEARBUSINESS EXECUTIVE OF YEAR
By Grace Mwende
Humility and integrity are the fundamental guiding principles for Peter Ndegwa, Hot Seat News Business Executive of the Year.
“There are two things that I value most –Humility and integrity. Integrity is about doing what you say, and Humility is knowing that there is always something more you can do,” Ndegwa said following his appointment as Safaricom’s Chief Executive Officer in 2019.
For a long time, Kenya had also been pushing Safaricom to be headed by a Kenyan. The answer came in the form of Ndegwa, a small-bodied and soft-spoken man.
Safaricom has since played an outsized role in Kenyan lives at home and abroad, making it easier to wire money worldwide and revolutionizing how Kenyans conduct business with each other.
According to data from Kenya’s Central Bank, money remittances from the diaspora to Kenya show a sharp spike between 2018 and 2022, when money transfer apps connecting with Safaricom’s MPESA started to become popular.
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By Maurice O. Ndole
When Dr. Daphine Kaniaru, a family medicine doctor in Central Valley, California, sets her mind on something, she doesn’t quit.
She did not quit hosting healthy lifestyle coaching sessions even after a scary diagnosis that would have sent many into a panicked retirement on health grounds.
“I had a pituitary tumor discovered last year. I had surgery to remove the tumor, but that left me with hormone deficiencies. Later I developed low phosphorus, which left me with constant body pains and fatigue,” Kaniaru disclosed. “I have not been able to work since April, but I have been able to reach people on social media, website, [and] calls.
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By Steve Mokaya
World marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is a global symbol of excellence, resilience, and humility. And now he’s PERSONS OF THE YEAR Athlete of the Year.
His performance shows his excellence and resilience, and his humble words reconnect his mythical being to mortals.
“Today, we went to the Moon and came back to earth!” Eliud Kipchoge penned a tweet shortly after smashing the legendary two-hour wall for the marathon on October 12, 2019, in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
He finished the race in a time of 1:59:40. Though unofficial, the record was the first in human history.
That feat was his most significant and humanity’s most outstanding in the marathon. The commentator of that marathon race, which was dubbed the “INEOS 1:59 Challenge”, marveled— “one giant leap for human endeavor” after Kipchoge crossed the finish line.
The 38-year-old from Eldoret had broken the limits, rubber-stamping his place as the greatest marathoner of all time and beautifully and literally unpacking his mantra— No human is limited.
For that achievement, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, during the 2019 national celebration for Mashujaa Day, honored Kipchoge with the Elder of the Order of Golden Heart (EGH), the highest civilian honor by the state.
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