2008

At about 100 kilometres away from the Africa Regional office of World Scouting, in Nairobi, stands PAXTU, the last residence of the Founder of Scouting, Lord Baden Powell. Towards the sunset of his fulfilled life, the Chief Scout of the World had chosen to retire at the foot Mount Kenya, in the area of the Central Highlands Region, in Nyeri.

In April 2008, the Africa Regional Office (ARO) completed a new communication strategy for Scouting in Africa for the 2008 – 2011 triennium. ARO's Communications Unit proposed the 11-Point master plan in a bid to address communication issues in the region.

On Monday 14 April 2008, Uganda's former Chief Scout, Hon. Manuel Pinto passed away at Nsambya Hospital where he was taken after being involved in a car accident. He was a Bronze Wolf holder and served as the Chairman of the Africa Scout Committee. He was born on 25 December 1938. A former Member of Parliament, Manuel Pinto, left parliament to become the Director of the Parliamentary Professional Development Unit. He was a renown debater in parliament who served on various commissions and statutory committees in Uganda.

During the month of January, 2008 the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, with his wife Eva Luise, visited Rwanda. One of the members of the presidential delegation was Saskia Scholten of the German Saint Goerge Scout Association (DPSG). She spoke about the plans of this Scout association for Rwanda.

On Wednesday April 2, 2008, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Youth and Employment, Hon. Justin Kouataba, officially opened the Regional Communication Forum . The ceremony took place at Notre Dame de Lorette in Ouagadougou. Also present were, Hon. Salif Sawadogo, the Minister for the environment and Mr. Seydou Zagre, Permanent Secretary in the office of the Speaker of the Assembly.

On Thursday 13th March 2008, the Scout fraternity from various corners of Africa, marked the Africa Scout Day. 13th March is a day that was set aside by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, OAU – a predecessor of the African Union (AU) – during its 62nd Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on 21st – 23rd June 1995. This was in recognition of the role of Scouting in educating Africa's youth.

On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, the Africa Regional Director, Ms Rubina Haroon, made a keynote presentation at the University College of the Fraser Valley, at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium in Abbotsford, Canada. She was speaking at a forum that attempted to explore children and youth issues in Africa and Canada. The theme of this symposium was: 'Cities for Children and Youth - Child and Youth Friendly Development in Canada and Africa'

Jim Kastelic has recently joined the Africa Regional Office (ARO) of the World Scout Bureau as the new Youth Programme Director. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA) on February 5, 1954. He joined the Scout Movement as a Cub in 1961 and became, until today, the Group Scout Leader at 1st Tsumeb in 1989.

A regional Communication Forum will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 2nd to 5th April 2008, with French as the medium of training. Participants will arrive latest Tuesday evening, April 1st and will remain until Saturday 5th April 2008. The Forum will be held at the Centre d'Accueil Notre Dame de Lorette des Frères de la Sainte Famille.

On 13th February 2008, Cecilia Njoroge, a Rover Scout from Powellnet Rover Crew, Kajiado District, Kenya, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She was one the 9 climbers who made it to the highest point, known as Uhuru Peak (5,685 metres), out of a team of 35 persons.