SAFARICOM’S SANDA OJIAMBO LANDS TOP JOB AT THE UN

Sanda is the daughter of Dr Julia Ojiambo, a former Member of Parliament and an Assistant Minister in the Kenyan Government. She represented Funyula Constituency. Her father, Professor Hillary Ojiambo, was the first cardiologist in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Sanda Ojiambo

A Kenyan lady Sanda Ojiambo recently landed a senior job at the UN, having been appointed as the Executive Director of United Nations Global Compact, succeeding Lise Kingo of Denmark, she's from Busia County. 

Sanda is the daughter of Dr Julia Ojiambo, a former Member of Parliament and an Assistant Minister in the Kenyan Government. She represented Funyula Constituency. Her father, Professor Hillary Ojiambo, was the first cardiologist in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Sanda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and International Development from McGill University, in Quebec, Canada. Her second degree in Master of Arts Public Policy was obtained from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. 

In 1997, Sanda joined CARE International in Somalia before moving to United Nations Development Programme also in Somalia.  She was in Somalia for five years, leading programmes in Education, Safe Motherhood, Environment Conservation, Governance and Landmine De-mining.

She later relocated to the Africa Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), located in Nairobi, Kenya. She provided technical advice for service delivery, accreditation standards, financial management, governance and advocacy for five years, covering 40 countries. 

In 2008, Sanda joined Safaricom Plc, the largest telecommunication company in Kenya, starting as a Senior Manager of Safaricom and Mpesa Foundations, leading to the implementation of several Public-Private partnership initiatives between Safaricom and the United Nations Organizations. 

In 2010, she was appointed Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact at Safaricom heading the Corporate Responsibility Department that coordinated the integration of the Sustainable Development Products and the Safaricom and the Mpesa Foundations. Her team was able to deliver regular reports of their work, raising a great amount of interest among stakeholders. 

Before her appointment to head the United Nations Global Compact, she sat on the board of directors for the following companies. 

a) Kenya investment authority, a parastatal.

b) Gender violence recovery centre, an NGO that provides services to gender violence survivors.

c) Global Development Incubator, an International Social Enterprise aiming to drive the adoption of technology for development.

d) Care pay limited, a health payments company.

She has also been involved in various community development projects in her Funyula rural home in Busia County, which includes funding of various development projects and the provision of learning materials in various secondary schools especially the neighboring Namnyweda Mixed Secondary School.