If you are a student in a Kenyan university harbouring ambitions for student body politics, one of your points to ponder is how to get the millions for campaigns, and not necessarily the votes.
You also have to consider which "big name" you know in the national political arena who will give you not just the money, but also the clout to lift you to the finish line.
Not for Cindy Njoki Kamau, who was elected director of the Black Law Students Association at the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Ontario, Canada, in March 2024.
The institution has notable alumni including former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and political activist Miguna Miguna.
Surprisingly, the 24-year-old told the Star that it cost her zero dollars to campaign, only employing her social media pages as well as face-to-face interactions to speak to her would-be voters.
“And guess what? I won!” she exclaimed in an interview with the Star, beating her only woman challenger who also hailed from Africa.
Kamau said the political culture in student politics at the university was a remarkable shift from her experience back home, where big money and national politics shape students affairs.
“Unlike in Kenya, here there is not such influence of national politics into student politics. It is largely low key and professionally managed within the one month of campaign,” she said.
The absence of money in the student polity means that cases of voter bribery, violence and the cutthroat competition that see institutions vandalised, student riots and school closure, as is the norm in Kenya, do not happen at Osgoode.
“It is totally different here. You only compose your message so that you know why you are running and what you want to do as a leader and then tell the colleague students. If they are convinced, they vote for you. No need for huge branding, treating voters and influencing them unduly,” the student leader said.
“So in my case, I just had my social media active and well branded. Then I had my friends help me cascade my message to mutual friends and networks and when the vote came, they believed in me,” Kamau further told the Star.
All this was achieved in five days, as the campaign period is restricted.
“The campaign was exciting. Within five days, it was just going to the law students and making my case and vision. The political process is much fairer and you don’t need to have sponsors,” she explained.
The student leader, who is the daughter of Defenders’ Coalition executive director Kamau Ngugi, is pursuing her law degree, that should be concluding in 2025.
Holding both Kenyan and Canadian citizenship, Kamau is a graduate of University of Toronto in Ontario, where she did arts, specialising in political science and majoring in African studies. She graduated in 2021.
But the director is not new to student leadership.
At the University of Toronto, the undergraduate dedicated her time to advocating for increased administrative support for Black students.
It is this advocacy that got her elected as the President of the University's Black Students’ Association (BSA), representing over 2,500 Black students across the three campuses at the institution, in all administrative and political matters.
According to BSA's website, Kamau raked in several achievements as leader.
"During her time, she founded numerous initiatives, including a prominent COVID-19 Grocery Delivery Programme to support Black students in obtaining groceries during the pandemic and the first-ever Black Yearbook for graduating students to commemorate the unique achievements of Black students," the website reads.
"She also led campus-wide initiatives that were intended to create safe spaces for Black students, including the prominent 2021 University of Toronto Black Graduation Ceremony".
Kamau was conferred the Nelson Mandela Award and the Black Business and Professional Association Award for her contribution to anti-black racism and anti-oppression within and outside education spaces.
Being in the foreign country without close family members, Kamau's has been a journey of resilience.
After graduating, she took a gap year and then settled on studying law, specialising in corporate and international law.
This decision was motivated by some of her colleagues' negative perceptions on Africans, coupled with the lopsided landscape the continent encounters during global trade engagements.
“I did not like the way some of my classmates viewed Africa as a victim of their own making. They talk about Africa as a basket case of suffering, people who only have themselves to blame for the unfairness that they experience in negotiating trade deals, multilateral loans, technology and other critical issues in the global political stage.
“This played a key role in my decision to decide on my own to pursue law and understand how international law, especially with regards to global trade works and see the loopholes that gets exploited against us and make my contribution in future in helping out,” she said.
Asked about her next steps as her studies conclude next year, and whether she will come back to Kenya, Kamau was apprehensive.
“I’m actually very scared of what the future holds,” she said.
The student leader explained that she is in the throes of considering relocating to Kenya or remaining in Canada, where there are "countless opportunities for those who work hard."
“I’m scared because I’m so much attached to Kenya and I want to be involved with my family as much as possible and give back to the society' but life is exciting here and the opportunities that my career could plunge me into are amazing,” she said.
