Rakesh goes global, gets top post in USA

Dar es Salaam. He gave hope to street children when no one cared about them. Then he became a prominent civil society leader. And now, two decades after he took up advocating social justice, Mr Rakesh Rajani is taking on the biggest challenge yet—as director of Democratic Participation and Governance for the US-based Ford Foundation.

It has been a long journey, but those who know our man knew it was just a matter of time before Rakesh made it big time.

From a humble beginning working with street children in Mwanza in 1991 shortly after graduating from Brandeis University in the United States, Mr Rajani will, come January 2015, join the league of Tanzanians who have taken on international leadership.

A dedicated leader on issues of social justice, Mr Rajani has been in the forefront of citizen engagement and government accountability for two decades. He will be relocating to New York from Tanzania, where he serves as the head of Twaweza, the organisation he founded to promote basic learning, advance access to information and enhance government responsiveness.

He takes up his new position on January 5, 2015. Prior to his new appointment, Mr Rajani has served as the lead civil society chair for the Open Government Partnership, an initiative to promote government transparency and accountability.

Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, Mr Rajani was in an upbeat mood on his new role, which he considers an exciting challenge that amounts to taking his vigour to the global stage after his local work. “I’m very excited about my new role,” he added. “It is, indeed, a reflection of what I have been doing in the country.”

From 1991 to 1998, Mr Rajani served as the first executive director of the Kuleana Centre for Children’s Rights in his hometown of Mwanza. In the streets of that town—especially Post Road, Makongoro Road and Kishamapanda Street—Mr Rajani became a famous brand in the 1990s—not because of the colour of his skin and his beard but because he is associated with caring for and nurturing street children.

Mr Rajani and his former partner, Mr Mustafa Kudrat, were then the first Tanzanians to start a street children’s centre in Mwanza known as Kuleana—the Swahili words for “taking care”. The centre eventually advocated children’s interests across the country. It received the prestigious Maurice Pate Award and was at one point one of the leading children’s agency in the world. It is largely defunct now, though.

In 2001, the man who graduated from Brandeis with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English and American Literature founded HakiElimu, a civil society organisation that pushed for an open, just and democratic Tanzania, and served as its executive director. He also holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard University.

During his spell at the organisation, HakiElimu offered external advice on the Primary Education Development Plan and Secondary Education Development Programme national policies that led to the massive expansion of government primary and secondary schools in Tanzania throughout the 2000-2010 decade.

These interventions led to a significant rise from 57 per cent to 87 per cent of primary student attendance and advancement up to grade seven.

Even in his absence, the organisation has led to several important TV and radio campaigns throughout Tanzania advocating quality of education and citizen involvement in education and democracy—and switching the medium of instruction from English to Kiswahili.

This work was hugely popular and challenged the authorities—and it led to attempts to shut down many activities of HakiElimu, but the organisation was never closed down completely—most likely because of the wide media and public support enjoyed by it.

The Ford Foundation had apparently been keeping track of his work in the country and globally, particularly the Third Anniversary Meeting of the Open Government Partnership held in late September this year, where he spoke at the United Nations in New York. “President Obama and Kikwete were also in attendance in that summit,” he noted.

The current head of Twaweza is optimistic that his successor will pick up from where he left in transforming the society.

“I’m not bigger than the organisation,” he added. “And I’m pretty sure that the same spirit will continue and whoever is in line to succeed me will take the organisation to higher limits”. He is looking forward to working with partners to develop a deeper understanding of how citizens can make governments more open and responsive, and to advance the case for justice and inclusion throughout the world.

Ford Foundation Vice President of Democracy, Rights and Justice Martín Abregú considers Mr Rajani as a remarkable leader who understands the vital connection between governance and citizen engagement and has used creativity and smarts to make a difference in the system as a whole. “We are thrilled that he is joining the foundation at this moment to lend his expertise to creating a more just world,” he said.