President William Ruto announced on Thursday, June 13, that former U.S. President Barack Obama will assist his government in establishing a leadership school at the University of Nairobi.
Speaking at the launch of the strategic plan of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (YKPA), President Ruto disclosed that Obama will visit Kenya next year for this purpose.
“When I was in America, I asked for an appointment with President Barrack Obama and I asked him for one thing. I am an alumnus of UoN and I told him that his father was also an alumnus of UoN.
“I requested him to assist us set up a school in the fashion of Kennedy School of Leadership in Havard, but this time, to be a school of leadership in UoN. I asked him, ‘let us call it the Barrack Obama Leadership School’. Barrack Obama agreed and he will come here next year,” Ruto said.
Ruto further revealed that Obama pledged to mobilize support from his allies and friends for the project, emphasizing the crucial role the institution will play in shaping future leaders.
He stated, “He has undertaken that he is going to mobilize support for a sustainable school of leadership because leadership is serious and we want you guys to be better than us so that we can have better leaders tomorrow.”
Encouraging young MPs to deepen their understanding of various topics to enact better laws, Ruto emphasized the importance of comprehensive knowledge.
He highlighted the establishment of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1936, a pivotal time in the United States’ history marked by recovery from the Great Depression and facing significant domestic and international challenges.
According to the Harvard website, the school was founded in response to the need for improved and professionalized public service.
Lucius N. Littauer, a Harvard alumnus, made an unprecedented $2 million donation to fund the Graduate School of Public Administration at Harvard.
