This one I had to read again and again; our flags is gonna be flying on the space and even though it is not our space program doing it, we are still proud it is gonna be. Not many countries have had this rare accomplishment.
Nation media, 9th 02, 2010.
For the first time ever, Kenya’s flag will be hoisted in space. Prime Minister Raila Odinga set off the historic process on Tuesday when he handed the Kenyan flag to the man who will undertake the assignment, Dubai based multi-billionaire entrepreneur, Ashish Thakkar at his office.
By hoisting the Kenyan flag, alongside the Ugandan and Tanzanian flags in space, Thakkar hopes to demonstrate to the world the opportunities available in the three East African nations.
Speaking at the PM’s office, the 28 year old entrepreneur said the Sh15.2 million Virgin Galactic flight will take off as soon as engineers finish testing the space ship earmarked to undertake the trip.
“Currently, the space ship is undergoing testing, once this is over, we will take off,” he said without stating exactly when this will happen.
“This is an act of courage and dedication. Kenya stands to benefit from a lot of possibilities offered by space,” Mr Odinga noted as he handed over the flag to Mr Thakkar who has spent the last couple of months undergoing space training at Nastar Space Centre, Philadelphia.
Born in the UK, Thakkar has lived in Africa for over fifteen years and in Dubai for eight years. At the tender age of sixteen, Thakkar founded RAPS, the IT company. He went on to set-up a manufacturing plant, Riley Industries, in Uganda.
In 2004, he co-founded globally renowned real estate company, Kensington Group which today has offices in Dubai, UK, Uganda, Ghana and India.
The group focuses on quality real estate development and currently has projects valued at over $1billion internationally including the 36-storey architectural masterpiece in Dubai, the Kensington Krystal.
He recently founded Shikamano Africa to drive the private sector, bring together like-minded individuals and bring forward the idea of a borderless Africa.
Speaking on Tuesday, Thakkar announced that he planned to raise his company’s investments in Kenya in the near future.
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