Safaricom, Rotary in joint bid to support community programmes in Kenya

Rotary members at Leisure Lodge Resort and Golf Club, Kwale County on Friday during this year's Fifth District Conference that brought together participants from East Africa region and abroad. [Photo: Tobias Chanji/Standard].

Safaricom and M-Pesa foundations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with one of the world’s largest volunteer organisations, Rotary for joint implementation of community projects in Kenya.

The MoU signed on Friday will see M-Pesa and Safaricom foundations work with Rotary to mobilise financial resources and expertise from Rotary volunteers and Safaricom staff, to implement community programmes in education, water, maternal, child health and economic empowerment. “We are keen on implementing sustainable community projects that have a bigger and long-term impact. We cannot do this alone,” said Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joseph Ogutu.

“That is why we have signed this MoU with Rotary Kenya so that we can explore mechanisms to leverage on our joint skills and expertise to work with more communities.”

He spoke at Leisure Lodge and Golf Resort Diani, in Kwale County, during this year’s fifth District Conference that brought participants from East Africa and abroad.

Since its inception in 2003, Safaricom Foundation has implemented more than 1,000 community projects, impacting over three million people in health, education, environmental conservation and economic empowerment. Others are in water, disaster relief, arts and culture. M-Pesa Foundation started in 2010 and has implemented large scale projects in health, education and integrated water and food security. “There are Rotary clubs in all parts of Kenya that are run by Kenyans who live in the locality,” said Rotary Kenya District Governor Bimal Kantaria.

“We have implemented mega projects that benefited Kenyans. We run the Jaipur Foot Project that gives and fits prosthesis limbs, we have built over 3,000 boreholes in Kajiado, Coast, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western regions and our Rotary Clubs run education scholarship programmes that have benefited thousands of Kenyan youth.”

Eradicating Polio

Kantaria said partnership with the Safaricom and M-Pesa foundations mean they have the potential to reach more Kenyans and make a bigger impact. Globally, Rotary has over 1.3 million volunteer members who have formed 33,000 Rotary clubs. Rotary has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate Polio in the world.

In the last 20 years, Rotarians have given about $1billion (Sh93 billion) towards the eradication of Polio. “A steering committee from the Safaricom Foundation and the M-Pesa Foundation and Rotary Kenya will work together to develop a framework for the implementation and operation of the MoU,” echoed  M-Pesa Foundation Executive Director Les Baillie. The MoU will be binding till June 30, 2018.