This keynote address was delivered by Dr Sara Ruto on the second day of  the 3-day regional conference organised by Jaslika in partnership with RELI Africa convened under the theme “From data and commitment to action: Creating a regional movement for girls’ education”.  Dr Sara Ruto is a leading African educationist and passionate girls’ education advocate, currently with Echidna Giving, a philanthropic organisation.

I benefit from the snippets of wisdom that were shared yesterday, some of which were articulated this morning and very much on point. As it has been stated, there are many who have come before us, many who have talked about the same topic that we are talking about and so we need to have the humility to know that perhaps what is bringing us here today is not new and perhaps we need to reflect back on what we can just learn from the past, from others, rather than reinventing the wheel. I think it can be a smart way, so we have a lot of knowledge that is resident with us on what is needed to build a movement. So we will not probably talk about the nuts and bolts because I feel the knowledge is resident with us here. Many of you have the experience; when I scan amongst you -and it is good I am on this podium - you are leaders of organisations that are based on the belief that there is power in the collective so you have made space for each other. Some of you came because of that collective; some of you were created two, three years ago because you know that you need to work together and you are either a leader or co-workers and you elbow that philosophy of the organisations you work in. Amongst you are also leaders of coalitions and networks, some of you even created them and have even been there for over 25 years, ah Fred from FENU [Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda] , I don't know how many years you have worked for FENU, are you here? At least I saw him another day, I have known Fred for many years. When it comes to heading coalitions - TEN/MET [Tanzania Education Network] is here, Elimu Yetu [Coalition] is here - RELI is just a baby that came just the other day. A coalition is not a movement but it has the ingredients to lead to it. So that is why I am saying we know what needs to be done, or we have the experience or we have learned about it. Amongst you are maybe students who have pursued the topic of movements’ building and movements’ creation in your academic pursuits, so it is not about the knowledge anymore; it is about translating what we know, the anger within us. Devin [Bramhall] used the word ‘discomfort’ because when you join what you know and what you feel is a right and a must and what needs to be done, then that will propel us to act in a way that we need to do. So if the ‘why’, and the ‘what’ is not much of a problem, maybe also the ‘how’ is not much of an impediment, because, for a person who works in the field of education, the one thing I know about life and human beings is we can learn; if we want, we will learn. So the ‘how’ we will sort it out. So maybe the problem is that we are not  able to push the envelope the way we need to, perhaps a lack of conviction, or perhaps the fear that our individuality will be swallowed up, maybe that pulls us back. Many of us who work in the civil society space choose to come here, because you are a distinct person or have a distinct expertise which you feel is needed and you know in your heart that this is what you know will be your contribution. Now that you are here you will hear someone telling ‘`no we don't need to come to a movement’. It is right to have that feeling.  Will this thing that I really believe in be carried on? And so, is it really a legit fear or just the ego?  Come on, should I really join others? Why can't they join me, you know? So all these things are here but I think we need to see that if we do not come together on a bigger goal then this and this is not about letting go of some of the innovations we are doing, but agreeing that even as we work we can come together. If we do not come together then what happens is that we yield the other things that are not good for us. We begin to have some other things lacking. Competition is very inherent in the field and you will find competition playing out. 

Sometimes because of not working together and giving each other space we begin to compete. What does competing look like? For example, many of you will require letters of collaboration with the ministries of education, and you will find everyone trooping on their own, yet sometimes you are doing similar things. You troop, you troop, you are just wasting energy here, but you are also wasting the time of the person who is supposed to write you the permission. Would it not be more helpful if you say, ‘By the way, we are working on the same thing. Let us come together and do one letter and we say this is what we are working on and these are the organisations. Why can't we come together? You do not lose anything by coming together. I think you gain more and it begins to give the semblance of you being bigger than what you actually are and gain more power. So these are the things that it is about the decision to come together. That is why I say perhaps it is the lack of conviction. So when I was reflecting on these things, I thought of the one thing that we need to do every time we find that it is the wrong thing in our space: we need to go back to the purpose; we need to go back to our vision. We need to revisit why we do what we do. For those in this room that are here in pursuit of social justice for girls' education, we are here because we collectively believe that we need to deliver on the promise of girls’ education. If that is what still unites us then we need to agree that our vision is still the same, but perhaps our individual paths are many. But because we operate within the civil society space, we need to look within the space that we are working in and if the space is allowing us to reach this particular goal. We will not talk much about the civil society space today, there have been thoughts  in our three countries - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - some more than others. There is a feeling that the civil society space is shrinking, some more than others. There is a feeling that this is because of the duplication of effort; we have been talking that it is also fueled by a lot of competition. We have also been talking about how  it has been filled with inadequate resources from within and repurposed resources from outside, so we have all these things, and if you look at the ministries that we work through and with, they have a ‘tokenist’ treatment of civil societies. I know some of you talk about them as partners, but I don't know if they talk about you as partners, us in civil societies as partners, because if that is a true partnership, then there will be more respect in what we invite each other to do.  Let us just analyse what civil societies are invited to do; perhaps if we analyse, it is in the process-related things, isn't it so? Like in Kenya, public participation is a very important thing, it is in the Constitution. Or is it just so that you can tick [the box]that you have talked? But do they really take into consideration what you have talked about? We have played a role in this ‘tokenist’ treatment. Because we are very different,  I hope perhaps that one of the things we need to do in the future is to be looking at this space that we are working in, and to always be doing a power analysis, opportunity analysis because it is the civil society space,  so that we can be checking and re-engaging, one, where we're going, where we are, what we are doing, or are we here as too many field-players? And a field-player means that you are here as an organisation doing your own thing, happy to do your own thing, interacting with different individuals but in you, there is a very small space. And then, there are also funders who are also field-players, funding you but there is no connection to the broader ecosystem but yet we are in the civil society space but we are asking, is it possible to shift from being a field-player to something more that is going to enable us to get that power? And like I have said, many things have been done so I am not going to be very abstract because when I look at what has been happening, there have been occasions where we have given ourselves more voice, and in giving ourselves more voice we begin to gain some power in the decision-making table. And this I have seen when people come together as collectives, for example, RELI - you came together as a collective  in the ALIVE programme, and I know there has been a bit of traction in some ministries of education more than others. You even now have traction  in the East African community where you are beginning to discuss, because you have come together as a collective of these three countries. It is not a movement but it is giving power to be heard not just to participate, but power to contribute something. You know, we however have to question this participating thing, this participating thing could be keeping you busy but you are basically just marking time or zero grazing. We should be critical when saying, ‘Oh I participated’. You should question and ask, ‘Did I do this just to tick [the box] off or is it helping me advance the vision that I hold which I have chosen to be part of? So RELI, for example, the ALIVE programme is very good because you have come together as many. In fact, many of you did not know each other before, but now you are working together and I hope you will continue to do so.Another example that I have seen, is, for example, the Girls’ Education Caucus, which is hosted and managed by TEN/MET, and I heard about the Girls’ Education Caucus, not from TEN/MET, but from the participants who were there: They would say, we are this as the Girls Education Caucus brought together by TEN/MET. It is then  I said this is an example of a network, a coalition; I think TEN/MET is a coalition. It is now doing what it was created to do because it came to be through the power of coalition. I am using this example because, throughout the past, we have had institutions set up to allow us to come together towards a movement. Sometimes we have lost the opportunity, so it is good to call out when things are happening because we are working together, as we are not only giving ourselves the power to be heard. And I am talking about power because the word for negotiating for girls or is it being a warden for girls or is a footballer, you have to have power so that someone can listen to you, isn't it?  So what gives that power, you can say we are all these organisations representing these constituencies raising this message, you get the power to sit on the table and hopefully be heard. You also save time and energy if you work together and I think in this day and age we need to work smart. So I do not know how many minutes I have talked but I am now coming to what I had decided to be my topic of my talk. Don't worry, the title of my talk is also the end of my presentation. It is the power of being a follower and that is my message for you.     The power of? The follower. I think for us to build a movement, we need to consider the power that comes by being a follower.

And I had come with my phone over here because I now want to play you something.

I’m not being true to my talk, because actually when I was thinking of my message, I found that there is someone else who has talked about it in a much better way, and I thought why should I spend so much time thinking about a speech, and somebody has not only talked about it but there is even something that I can show you. I don’t know if you will be able to see it.

[Dr Ruto screened a YouTube video titled, “Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy” by Derik Sivers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ ]

The video played demonstrated that while leadership is often celebrated, the role of followers is equally crucial in creating a movement. It challenges the traditional notion of leadership

by emphasising the crucial role of followers in creating a movement. It dismantles the myth of the lone genius leader, revealing that a successful movement is built on the collective action of individuals. The video highlights the importance of the first follower in transforming a lone idea into a shared vision. Moreover, it highlights the power of momentum as more people join the movement, creating a tipping point where participation becomes the norm rather than the exception. Ultimately, the video encourages viewers to be courageous and become first followers, recognizing that collective action is the true catalyst for change.

Dr. Rutos’ parting shot

It is important for us to now, instead of looking within, let us now also look without. Let us find who this person is who is articulating what I want to do, in a way that is so special, so unique, that actually is better. And by being that follower, you are actually going to show leadership in a way that you do not know. And that is the challenge I am leaving with us.

The challenge for us in East Africa has been summarised very well. In Sheila’s paper, you know I like to think in alliteration, I was a student of literature. She talked about root causes being patriarchy, poverty, politics of development, and then something else that did not have a P, so I have forgotten it. But these are the issues that have been raised over and over again. We should now look for other ideas. Something that will accelerate the progress that we have, something that will catalyse. We need to be impatient with where we are. And we need to know that we are the ones who can bring that change. But not us alone, but as a follower.

So you have been given a gift. To be honest it will be such a lost opportunity if you use that gift to go three different ways or five different ways because you have the power to be followers. Look for that thing that you can follow.

To borrow the words from the video “To build a movement have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.” A movement has to be public. It has to leave these four rooms. A movement has to bring everybody. 

So once again, the key message - please be a follower. Be proud to be a follower. Leadership is perhaps over estimated. Perhaps the power is in those who identify a good thing, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow. And in doing that, together, we will build a movement for girls’ education in East Africa and beyond.

Thank you.