John Githongo: "Africa (Up)Rising: Confronting the New Authoritarianism"

John Githongo is a former correspondent for The Economist and one of the most courageous leaders in the struggle to combat corruption and improve governance in Kenya. He will deliver the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor Lecture on February 5.

Githongo currently serves as CEO of Inuka Kenya, an NGO that works with Kenyan youth to provide civic education and address societal problems. From 2003 to 2004, he served as permanent secretary for governance and ethics in Kenya’s post-transition government, and risked his life and career to expose one of the biggest government corruption scandals in Kenyan history.

He has served as CEO of Transparency International Kenya, vice president of World Vision, senior associate member at St. Antony’s College Oxford, and member of the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

In 2011 Githongo was selected as one of the world’s 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine and one of the world’s top 100 global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine.

Githongo has been appointed the 2015 Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at the Haas Center for Public Service. The program brings to Stanford prominent individuals whose lives and careers have had significant public impact and who have distinguished themselves in public service. In addition to the lecture, he will lead seminars and meet with students and faculty at Stanford.

The event starts with a reception at 4pm, followed by the lecture at 5pm.

Campus marketing co-sponsors include: Bechtel International Center; Center for African Studies; Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; Crothers Hall Global Citizenship; Stanford African Students Association; Stanford Alumni Association; Stanford Association for International Development; Stanford Forum for African Studies; and Stanford in Government.