The 2021 World Social Innovator of the Year award winner Kennedy Odede was ranked number three behind Nairobi Senator Johnstone Sakaja and Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi in Nairobi governor race.
Even though he has not declared interest in the seat, Odede was voted for by netizens in an online poll conducted by a local media house.
Odede, who is the CEO of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) garnered 23 per cent, Wanyonyi (30 per cent) and Sakaja (38 per cent).
Netizens commented Odede for the great work he does in 15 major slums across Nairobi.
Twitter user George Morara wrote: “I support Kennedy Odede. This is because with meagre resources he has managed to provide critical services to most slum residents in Nairobi and parts of Mombasa and Kisumu.”
Another user Ibrahim Maina said: “Kennedy Odede stands out! He has led by example by transforming the informal settlements.”
Odede started SHOFCO in 2004 in Kibera slums and it has now spread across Kenya, serving 2.4 million people.
The organization provides critical services which include free education, gender based violence response and prevention and free health care.
Through its Shofco Urban Network (SUN) program, the organization offers coastal, Nairobi, Nyanza and Western Kenya residents with free water, free community buses, women and youth empowerment and sustainable livelihood trainings.
SUN has over three million members across Kenya.
It seeks to build a strong urban network with the vision of giving the urban poor the voice.
SHOFCO has also put up two schools in Kibera and Mathare slums under its Girls Leadership and Education Programme.
The schools are the brainchild of Odede, who set them up as a way of empowering girls from the slum community.
So far, the school in Kibera, which has over 400 students, has had pupils sit for KCPE in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, whilst in Mathare, 350 students from pre-primary to Grade 7 are already enrolled for learning. Once admitted, the girls have access to a full scholarship.
For five years, Kibera School for Girls has consistently sent all its students to top high schools in Kenya including Alliance Girls, Starehe Girls, Kenya High, Limuru Girls and Pangani Girls. Some have been enrolled to top high schools in the United States of America under full scholarship.
Odede, a graduate of Wesleyan University in the United States, was also recognized by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2020 for reaching slum residents through the provision of water, soaps, tests and food at the height of Covid-19 pandemic.
Odede is also the co-author of the New York Times Bestselling book Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in African Slum has and continues to win international awards for his work in eradicating poverty in Kenyan slums such as 2018 the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, 2014 People’s Choice Award for Outstanding Social Entrepreneur and Muhammed Ali Humanitarian Award among others.