Ugandan MPs visit Shofco on benchmarking tour

Eight Ugandan Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday toured Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) programmes in Kibera in their benchmarking visit to see how to address urbanization challenges.

The MPs drawn from the Gender, Labour and Social Development Committee of the Ugandan Parliament, visited Kenya to learn how to manage slums.

During their tour, the MPs visited Shofco’s aerial water piping system, library, computer lab, women empowerment programs, girls’ school, gender department and Shofco Urban Network department.

“We know that developing countries have a lot of urbanization challenges. We have looked at interventions employed by Shofco to make sure that livelihood in the slums is dignified," the committee chairperson Hon. Rwabushaija Margaret Namubiru said.

“Shofco’s intervention to ensure that people living in slums are brought on board to participate in planning and decision-making is commendable," she added.

She added:

“We have seen libraries in the slums where children from congested home environments can come and study, a computer lab for learning digital skills and women being trained on various skills they can use to earn a living. This is incredible.” 

Namburiru further said she picked vital lessons that will be useful in developing smart cities in Uganda, where every resident will be guaranteed a dignified life devoid of challenges associated with urbanization.

“I have learnt a lot and we are going to keep in touch with Shofco to ensure we manage our cities well because we are trying to develop smart cities away from Kampala," she stated.

“We will guide our government on how best it can work with the private sector and civil societies to ensure we have smart cities that address the unique needs of the people living in it.” 

On his part, Hon Charles Bakkabulindi, Workers’ MP in the Ugandan Parliament, reiterated the need to involve youths in development, saying if they miss out, then the country risks being in bigger problems in future.

“When we talk about the country developing, we cannot leave the slums behind, and we cannot forget the youth. There are so many youths in the slum and if we don’t develop together with them, then we are sitting on a time bomb," Bakkabulindi stated.

“What Shofco is doing by bringing youth on board is commendable. This ensures that tomorrow we will not regret it. I’m so happy about it.” 

Founded by Dr. Kennedy Odede in 2004 in Kibera, the organisation has spread across Kenya, serving over four million people in 35 counties.

The organisation has received global recognition for its approach to transforming slums and rural communities across Kenya.

The Shofco Founder and CEO has received invitations from the governments of Angola, South Africa, Namibia and Brazil to advise them on his model of a bottom-up approach to development and how to manage urbanization that leads to the growth of informal settlements, which has earned him global recognition and visibility.

In June 2022, SHOFCO’s community-driven change became a model for global NGOs following a case study conducted by Bridgespan Group which had a close-up look at on-the-ground approaches that the Kenyan organisation is using.

SHOFCO stood out among other NGOs around the world with Bridgespan concluding that their model of community-driven change has achieved an impact that lasts because the community feels a sense of ownership.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Bridgespan is guiding the philanthropic choices of many leading donors, including MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation among others.

Dr. Odede was on Thursday, April 18, 2024, listed among 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.

“Kennedy is living proof that individuals can lead themselves, and their communities, out of poverty," TIME100 stated.

It added:

“There is no challenge he will not take on. He is an unstoppable force for justice. This dream of hope that started more than 20 years ago in his home in Kibera has now reached more than 3 million Kenyans and is rapidly becoming a blueprint that will one day, hopefully, reach the world—a movement for change led by the people themselves.”