The long-awaited Friday, 27th June 2025 was finally here with us! Why long-awaited? Because it was the first-ever Annual General Meeting (AGM) of LWF to be held within the LWF compound. The beautiful morning sunrise and the chipping of the diverse species of birds ushered in the day under the well-manicured lawns, and the beautiful canopy created by the well-maintained hedges and individual trees.
As members trickled into the compound, they were welcomed by the ambience and serenity created by this natural environment. To cap it off, they did not have to struggle to know the names of the trees that contributed to this beauty because all the tree species in the compound are now well labelled and described. The learning of species’ names made them busy as they took tea while moving around the compound. Many were so excited to learn the names of trees that they interact with almost daily, yet were unaware of their names.
There was a lot of happiness and anticipation as all LWF staff worked together to ensure everything was in place. The well-erected tents hosting decorated tables and chairs exuded pomp and colour. The accurately positioned banners and registration table gave a feeling of a well-organized celebration. The Disc Jockey (DJ) made sure not to water down all this beauty and effort and crowned it all with heartwarming, themed and very entertaining music.
The meeting began as soon as the Chairman and Board members arrived. As is tradition, we started with a word of prayer followed by self-introductions. The meeting then followed the usual AGM procedure. However, we cannot write home about this unique AGM without giving the key highlights of the day. We, including the Chairman, were happy to welcome one of our former Executive Directors, Dr. Mordecai Ogada. Mordecai, as he is popularly referred to, is credited for enabling LWF to settle in this compound, having moved from the Nanyuki Airstrip. He was also impressed by the ambience!
Former Executive Director Dr. Mordecai Ogada shares his remarks during the historic AGM, reflecting on LWF’s journey and growth over the years
Another key highlight was by the Chair of the Board on the progress the Forum has made over the past three years. He said that when he and the Executive Director took up leadership, LWF had declared redundancy, with staff at 50% salary reduction, had no reserve funds and was generally a coordinating body/secretariat. This changed in late 2022 when we decided to revert to implementation, and now, we are making an impact, he said. The third highlight was the diversity of members. We had multi-stakeholders, including the County Government, the National Government, Peer NGOs, local CBOs, including Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs), Community Forest Associations (CFAs), youth and women groups, other conservation groups, tourism sector players, research institutions, community and private conservancies, among others.
As the meeting ended, a relaxed and happy atmosphere could be felt as members mingled and ate their delicious lunch, also served within the compound. It was indeed a first and memorable venue-change for LWF’s AGM!
