Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to share with you news of this year’s record-breaking success of Digital Essay Competition (DEC), which received over 24,900 entries—by far the highest in its history. We look forward to celebrating this national achievement and awarding the winners at Nairobi International Book Fair with Kenya Ministry of Education, Kenya Publishers Association, students, teachers, parents and friends at Sarit Expo Centre on Friday 25th September.
Over its 14-year history across primary and secondary schools in all 47 counties of Kenya, DEC has deepened our journey in writing, reading and inclusion. This year, we introduced a new mother tongue category to amplify the 2026 prompt: "Let me speak," allowing students to express lived experience, more original voices and fresh ideas.
We are enthused by the diversity of 2026 entries, which include—in addition to the thousands of entries in Kiswahili and English—363 essays in mother tongue languages, 166 in Braille, 165 in KSL, 147 in poetry, 114 in French, 99 from Kakuma Refugee Camp, 90 in Arabic, 71 in German, 22 in Mandarin, 20 in Spanish, 2 in Korean, and 1 in Swedish.
I congratulate all the students, teachers and parents for your dedication to developing writing talent and creative expression in Kenya. We hope to see you and celebrate this milestone together at Nairobi International Book Fair.
Asanteni Sana!
Warmest regards,
Will