Suzanne Silantoi: Cabinet Nominee Who Vied For Nairobi Senator At 23

Suzanne Silantoi Lengewa was among the surprise nominees by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to the County Executive Committee (CEC) who will form his Cabinet.

Other nominees include Charles Kerich, who was named to the Finance docket having served in Mike Sonko's administration. Former Cabinet Minister Fred Gumo's son, ODM aspirant for Westlands constituency Michael Gumo, will be in charge of the Innovation and Digital Economy docket.

What many might not know about Silantoi is that she was the youngest Nairobi senatorial candidate in 2017 at the age of 23 and was contesting against Sakaja in the hotly contested race and current Senator, Edwin Sifuna.

Suzanne Silantoi posing with the Lioness Award under the Leadership and Governance category in March 2021. /INSTAGRAM.SILANTOI SUZANNE

Silantoi is a public policy analyst who graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Music in 2015 and a Master of Arts in Public Administration and Public Policy from the University of York in England five years later.

In terms of her career, she began as a Communications Officer at the Centre for Behavioural Change and Communication and as an Adolescent and Youth Program Coordinator. 

She was a research assistant at the University of York during her masters programme for eight months where she conducted research for the Inclusive Learning, Teaching and Assessment (ILTA) project by reviewing inclusive teaching, learning and assessment policies of higher education in the UK and making recommendations as well as developing programmes to improve inclusivity within the institution.

As a policy analyst at Africa Practice, Silantoi was in charge of Strategic advisory and political-economic intelligence analysis services for clients in Technology, fintech, agriculture, mining and public health, and government relations, particularly between the private sector and government.

She was also in charge of stakeholder relationship management and engagement (Identification, Mapping & Analysis) and risk analysis and advisory across various sectors including Technology, fintech, agriculture, mining and public health.

Suzanne was part of the Short-Term Election Observation Mission of the African Union (AU) to the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Presidential Election.

AU deployed 50 short-term observers, led by Hailemariam Desalegn, who served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia between 2012 and 2018.

She was also part of the Short-Term Election Observation Mission of the African Union to the Republic of Sierra Leone’s 2018 General Elections held on March 7, 2018, as well as the Run-Off Presidential Election held on March 31, 2018. AU deployed 40 short-term observers, led by the head of Mission Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe, who served as President of South Africa between September 25, 2008, and May 9, 2009.

"She has been privileged to speak in various international youth forums such as the Africa Union Regional Youth Consultation on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend Through Investments In Youth in Arusha, Tanzania, the 4^th and 5^th Annual Continental Forum of Electoral Management Bodies in Kigali Rwanda and Ivory Coast respectively," Church and Politics Summit 2021 described her.

Silantoi runs a podcast and YouTube channel known as Is that so? With Silantoi, whose aim is to help Kenyans understand their role in governance and help raise a politically empowered generation through simplified civic education.

"In our country, our leaders are not accountable to us. Even with a Public Participation Bill, we still have no way of evaluating our leaders. As young people, we have been hoodwinked. We are pawns, to be used and then dumped by politicians.

"I want to be there to represent the youth because the current crop of politicians forget about us as soon as they get elected. Young people are adults who can articulate their own issues, so they should represent themselves. We suffer the most from bad governance," she revealed in an interview with The Standard when she was asked about her decision to run for Senator, despite the resistance she faced because of her age.

Her recent interview with President William Ruto in the run-up to the August 9 general elections won her plaudits amongst her followers.

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