Bikatshi Katenga

Bikatshi has been involved with the Yorkshire Party since its early days and has stood in local and general elections. She was also  the Chair of the former cross-party group, the Campaign for a Yorkshire Parliament, advocating for devolution capable of transforming Yorkshire into an area of economic, social prosperity and inclusion. I am a school governor for a local SEND school working alongside school staff to maximise our support to pupils' wellbeing, development, progress, and achievement and ensure that pupils are listened to, and their behaviour is also interpreted as communication.   My experiences show that I understand parents' needs as well as the challenges schools face. 

Bikatshi was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spent time in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of her MA field research on Conflicts resolution. 

"Growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo meant one had to become inured to the stoic life and national politics was one of the most talked about topics amongst family and friends. I became interested in politics from a very young age and enjoyed reading children's magazines. My love of reading started to gear more towards reading political material, such as the newspapers that my dad used to bring home from work.  Newspapers at that time were not just depicting the national political upheaval, but also depicted the everyday struggles (poverty, rise in food costs, lack of affordable healthcare, frequent power outage, etc.) in a more caricatural and satirical way."