Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade & Enterprise Development
David is measured, eloquent, a sucker for alliteration. His is like the voice of a well-ironed trouser.
“Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness,” he is a man of singsong quotable quotes, byte-sized content for a TikTok Generation.
“Never waste an opportunity.”
"Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness."
Has he been lucky to reach where he has at a relatively young age?
Yes, but he is also been hardworking. In his second year at Nairobi University, he won the leadership of the students union. Then he served, at 26, as an adviser to the former Prime Minister of Kenya on youth affairs.
He has also worked for the Oxfam GB Pan-African programme as a governance associate. Previously he worked as a news anchor and before his current role, served as Group CEO of Crestwood Marketing & Communications. God, he says, has been the constant in his life.
Born and bred as a staunch Seventh Day Adventist, he is a chorister in church, and revels in servitude: “I see a need to give to my country, if not for anything else, then for my daughter’s generation.”
David wears service like a beret. “I have a calling to work for others. True satisfaction does not come from how deep your wallet is, but from deep inside you. Value things that transcend, things money cannot buy, love, honesty, and gratitude.”
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Science in Public Policy from the University of Bristol, England. He is also a UNEP-Bayer Young Environmental Envoy awardee.
Does he fail? “Absolutely.”
In 2017, he ran for public office. He knew he had won, but his certificate was handed to someone else. That was harrowing, to snatch defeat from the maws of victory.
“Failure is inevitable, but what happens after failure? Purpose. Passion. Principle. Pragmatism. And persistence. Persistence is the nerve that keeps me going after failure.”
He is a man who has abstained from the fame of politics to master the politics of fame. “I just decided I’ll be a political leader, not a politician It’s about serving, not being served.”
His success is not by fluke, he credits others for carrying him on their shoulders.
– Eddy ashioya
