By Fredrick Omondi Oduor

Whether you ask the ordinary citizens,  the civil servants or political leaders you will be told that my great Country, Kenya, is deeply affected by corruption and misuse of public resources. I felt helpless and soon joined the bandwagon of those who embraced the status-quo. This paradigm shifted when I joined YALI in 2018. I realized that it takes one person to get it right for the rest to up their game...I realized that it's takes One committed Civil servant to inspire an entire Organization and Society. As I pondered daily on motivational quotes from "7 Habits App" I felt rejuvenated to wake up and give excellent service to the public.  I have since commissioned many projects facilitated in a transparent manner, established many checks and balance mechanisms, hosted many first-time events and the list of items-to-do keeps increasing. The greatest moments so far were when out of creativity and innovativeness,  I would in liaison with my team come up with ways of appreciating junior officers. For example,  we were the first in the Country to issue Certificates of Recognition to all Village Elders. Their motivation, psyche and level of cooperation and service delivery skyrocketted. The synergy created was extraordinary! I never knew how fulfilling it would be to hear lots of "Thank you Sir", "That's Good work" and "It's the first" from various stakeholders.
This marks a New dawn in my career and makes me more proud,  more committed and more determined to serve the public with excellence. Recently,  I was privileged to be awarded Certificate of Commendation for Exemplary leadership as an Assistant County Commissioner by my Seniors. I am no longer waiting to join the World Bank Group or the UN Agencies to serve.
Thank you YALI..... Africa is indeed Changing.