Kenya Vs TZ: Flags fly, fingers point, and the banter burns brighter than the stadium lights./AI ILLUSTRATION
The online banter between Kenyan and Tanzanian citizens should not be taken
lightly, a social entrepreneur said.
Simon Kacha, who is also an activist and peace champion, on Monday said
there is a new order of leadership that fosters unity among people for there to
be faster development.
Kenya, he said, should enhance its service delivery to the people, focusing
more on the value that people get from the services than profit margins, and to
help build strong friendship bonds between Kenyans and neighbouring communities.
“It is possible to effectively develop economies only by developing trust
between people. International partnership must have a humanitarian basis,”
Kacha told the Star.
He was among the over 4,000 people from across the globe who gathered in
Moscow, Russia, for the first ever session of the newly launched World Public
Assembly on September 21.
The WPA was initiated by the World People’s Assembly, an international
union of NGOs that describes itself as a platform for public diplomacy.
The summit came amid a sharp increase in geopolitical, economic and
humanitarian challenges.
Kacha said what starts as friendly fire between Kenyan and Tanzanian
citizens online if unchecked could metamorph into a more serious
“This is exactly what we were discussing at the WPA. Disunity between
states is intensifying, trust deficits are growing, and competition between
value systems and development models is intensifying,” he said.
The WPA noted that in these circumstances, the role of public diplomacy,
humanitarian cooperation, and public and cultural initiatives that can offer an
alternative architecture for peaceful coexistence is of particular importance.
The central idea of the World Public Assembly was to build a "New
World of Conscious Unity", a world where the main value is man and the main
vectors of international dialogue and partnership have been formed, the WPA
heard.
Kacha said at the WPA discussion platforms devoted to the economic sphere,
the main idea was that it is possible to effectively develop economies only by
developing trust between people.
“International partnership must have a humanitarian basis. Experts from
different countries agreed that the new model of development is the
"economy of life,” he said.
“Economics begins with the search for meanings. It is based on a human
being,” Svetozar Darnev, head of the Russian association Osnova, said.
UNESCO goodwill ambassador Alexandra Ochirova said united minds are irresistible.
Kacha said the media can play a big role in ensuring closer relationships
that form the basis of economic springboards.
He noted that Kenyans have shown time and again that this is possible.
“Look at the Vincent Kaluma story. Kenyans on tiktok came together for a
boy they only see on tiktok and helped him take care of his sick father. That
is what was being discussed in Moscow. That is what can be achieved if we put
man as the main issue,” Kacha said.
He was referring to Sunday’s event where hundreds of Kenyans gathered in solidarity at an event dubbed 'Kaluma Day',
donating food and supplies to support Vincent Kaluma and his ailing father.
Kaluma has been posting on TikTok how he has been helping his ailing
father, and attracted empathy.
INSTANT ANALYSIS:
The First World Public Assembly has become an event that cannot be measured solely by decisions and declarations. Her main achievement is the atmosphere of unity. The participants took home the energy of cooperation and willingness for new projects. The WPA will be held annually, becoming an increasingly powerful platform for dialogue between cultures and peoples of the world. The Second World Public Assembly will be held in Austria, in Vienna, Secretary General of the World Peoples' Assembly Andrey Belyaninov said at the closing ceremony of the WPA.
