What did actually happen with the SwahiliBox space?

Earlier this year (March to be precise), I wrote a Medium Post titled: Killing innovation: A story of SwahiliBox. And between then and now, there has been interest by various parties for us to express what truly went on in black and white. I will be short and to the point. I will not point fingers and name names, but I will explain the story.

You see in 2014 and 2015, we set up a new team under an organization called M-Power CBO. Under this team we charted the direction to setup the SwahiliBox open space, which was meant to be the technology open space for Mombasa (co-working space). We then came up with 5 Board Members who would help provide strategic and executive input. And as earlier stated, we got the support of Indigo Trust, Hivos and Doen, including flash grants from the likes of Shuttleworth foundation.

One of the Board Members we had, who then went on to be very instrumental in the eventual fallout, and who we will call the BM, pulled us towards getting an open space situated close to the Fort Jesus area, but within the Swahili Cultural Center compound. Out of a number of options we had, this one came with the heavy price of renovation (also known as restoration when you talk of historic buildings). The Building we were told to take over frankly had a lot of work to be done, to be precise, it was totally a neglect. Which we had to put in a lot of money to do. But respecting the values of team effort and respecting the opinion of BM, we agreed to embark on a costly restoration process. A decision that obviously was not considered a sign of respect in the long run.

The argument was that the value of the aroma the building was going to provide was going to be iconic. Traditional Swahili with a mix of modern technology, was a huge plus.

To put the building’s situation into context — the building had a leaking roof tunneling rain water all the way from the roof to ground floor. That also meant plumbing and electrical was totally damaged. So, we had to:

  • Fix the roof (and we bought best materials for that)
  • Fix the electrical system
  • Fit in new plumbing system for the entire building
  • Repair things like weak areas around the stair case, etc
  • Paint the whole interior and exterior of the building

Below are before and after photos of the work we did (as M-Power CBO):

Before

Work begins on Restoration
Fixing the Roof

After

After restoration
Interior After Restoration

You can view some of the photos of our facebook links: such as the community restoration effort here and here, Restoration process here and here and even

What really led to M-Power loosing SwahiliBox and it becoming SwahiliPot

The story behind this is a series of carefully orchestrated events. A number of our internal team members got involved in a series of takeover events. These members went on to form the Pwani Teknowgalz Team, which led to the eventual formation of SwahiliPot hub — which pushed out SwahiliBox. This action was propagated by claims that the management team at M-Power / SwahiliBox had mismanaged specific projects, and unfortunately, the card that was being played was that members were biased on both religious and gender levels— but we will let the rest of the story be the judge on this.

We will all have to agree that normally, it is OK to have disagreements once a while and for people to leave because they don’t really agree with the mission or vision of an organization, its a democracy. But what makes this specific situation terribly wrong was a number of factors:

  • That when Tecknowgalz was formed, a funded award winning project (which was Women in STEM related) — that was originally assigned to M-Power was forcefully taken away from M-Power / SwahiliBox — and pushed into Teknowgalz. Normally when you leave an organization, especially because you are not in agreement with its principles, then what you do is you go form an organization with a blank slate, and execute on your new vision — not the same vision you borrow from the organization you left. A blank slate is a blank piece of paper that you use to devise a new organization with a new vision totally. You should not take on projects that were not in your hands, and even claim credit for awards that led to funds that were won that eventually led to setting up a project with M-Power, before the new organization (in this case Teknowgalz) was formed. You can not claim you won an award when the award itself is older than the age of your own organization. The only things that are post-dated are banking cheques not awards.
  • Even after all that, that BM actively went on to show open favors to the side he did not represent at all. And in the process refuse to listen to the side he originally represented. And, without showing any willingness to listen to the party he originally represents. Mediators normally tend to listen to both sides, but in this situation, our BM had decided to settle with one side of the story from the Teknowgalz side without any consultation from our side.
  • Apart from the part where you take projects that already with SwahiliBox, that when you leave, you should not come back for spoils of projects done after you had left. Because in essence, you have no ownership for what you did not get involved in. And let me explain this specific last point further:

Months after we had split with the team members of Teknowgalz, the Teknowgalz crew, led by BM who had sided with them, forcefully came back for SwahiliBox.

Context: the split took place way before restoration was complete and the space was officially open.

Additional Note: Take into consideration, in the process of restoration, M-Power CBO spent fund raised money to fully restore the building to the new structure it was on. The building was not only habitable, but had a functional plumbing and electrical setup as well as networking equipment all set up.

What is wrong about all this is that (together with what was the narrative that eventually came out) is that this was made to look like this all went on because of M-Power’s incompetence, while ironically what was not stated is that the open space actually did happen because of M-Power / SwahiliBox.

The Teknowgalz team, backed by BM who came back from a position of influence — came for the space, and they claimed foul and stated that M-Power needed to offload all the effort they did and put it into the hands of other entities that both BM and Teknowgalz crew had executive and dominating control of. They then forced the SwahiliPot brand on it and the BM went on to become the Patron of the new setup. Effectively killing SwahiliBox brand. All this, even after M-Power and its team members invested their fundraised money from partners like Indigo Trust, Hivos and Doen, and invested all the effort to set up a fully functional technology hub.

A more detailed Situation Analysis

Let us put the at the moment situation of things that went on in context. You see, when claims were being made of M-Power’s lack of will to resolve the situation, we went out of our way to show team spirit. In the process, we turned a blind eye to all historical injustices, be it project take-overs, bad-mouth, etc. We even decided to forgo our claim of project ownership for SwahiliBox to show our willingness to come together with our fallen team members. We did this mostly because we had no say in how eventually things turned out to be — we were being pushed out of a building by individuals who claimed they owned the entire project — and they had all the influence they wanted and invested in it heavily.

And for us it was not that we wanted so much to loose all efforts we had made on the open space. It was also that the worth of the open space was not only in monetary terms, but in the brand equity SwahiliBox had. We had really created a brand that was recognized and trusted.

Apart from the fact that we had no say in the process, we were sincerely open to making amends with the fallen team members. Because ultimately, we need to understand that this space would also serve them.

However, as days go by, it became apparently clear to us that that was not going to fit into the bill when it comes to them also compromising their stand on the issue. As if of course we had not compromised a lot already to reach to the point we were at. They demanded for the change of name for the open space so aggressively that they finally made sure they got what they wanted.

Ironically, BM, without the consultation of his peers (other Board Members), ended up devising a new board and all his peers ended up being thrown out of the new setup totally.

When SwahiliBox became SwahiliPot, we as team members as well as the rest of the Board, decided we will keep our brand, which to us is worth more than the money and efforts we invested in the building. After all, didn’t our funders invest in the name?

And as for the rest of the Board Members, it was about standing with what was ethical in the end. If 4 out of 5 Board Members (5th one being BM) had disagreed to all that had happened, then I guess it was not surprising why they would end up being kicked out.

This is why we ended up leaving the open space we worked so hard to set up.

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