A Kenyan Engineer has made history after he was elected to sit on the executive council of an engineering global body.
Nathaniel Matalanga became the first Kenyan to be elected to the executive council of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) on November 22, in Melbourne Australia.
The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) confirmed the election of Nathaniel Matalanga in a statement on Monday, November 25.
“This is the first time a Kenyan has won a seat on the executive council as a national member representative. Kenya and Africa are expected to benefit big from Matalanga’s representation as he is expected to bring the continent and Kenya to the discussion table during the WFEO council meetings,” the statement read.
The election of executive council members by a secret ballot is held every two odd years in November after the general assembly meeting.
Nominees are drawn from each of the six international members representing each continent.
Electoral regulation requires that a nominee be supported by at least five federation members out of the total six.
Matalanga has served as the secretary to the Institution of Engineers of Kenya IEK. He is also a founding partner of Ngasi Consulting Engineers, a structural engineering company in Kenya.
He will work with other representatives from China, Lebanon, India, Italy and Spain.
Jose Vieira, an engineer from Portugal won the presidency while Nigeria’s Mustafa Shehu won the vice-presidency.
