by Sauti Yetu | Feb 17, 2017 | Stories
Kibra sub-county (formally Kibera Constituency) is among the 17 sub-counties of Nairobi County. The sub-county has five wards which are; Laini Saba, Makina, Sarango’mbe, Lindi and Woodley. The sub-county (Constituency) is represented by honourable Kenneth Okoth as their Member of the National Assembly.
On 17th February 2017 Sauti Yetu held a pre-nomination political debate for all candidates vying for the position of the member of the National Assembly. The debate was held at AIC Training Centre.
The debate kicked off at 7.30 pm. The objectives of the debate were; to provide a platform to the public that shifts the political agenda from politician-led to community-led and give community members the opportunity to assess and ascertain the suitability of potential leaders to vie for public office. To cultivate, shape and sustain issue-based electoral processes that utilize the principal of leadership and integrity as the supreme criteria of choosing potential leaders. To increase and sustain productive engagement between potential duty bearers and right holders through public participation in a way that fosters responsiveness and responsibility.
The candidates who attended the debate were; honourable Hon. Kenneth Okoth of Orange Democratic Movement, Kassim Abdul and Malasen Hamida both from Jubilee party and Suleiman Yusuf an Independent candidate.
The community was able to articulate their concerns which include; Youth unemployment, Title deeds, School dropouts, Persons with Disabilities and Health.
All the aspirants promised to nurture talents should they be elected, to cab the issue of youth unemployment. Youths who have dropped out of school will be taken to train in various skills in village polytechnics and home craft centres. Others will be empowered to start business and be linked to financial institutions.
This debate was attended by one lady aspirant Mrs. Malasen Hamida of Jubilee party something that encouraged other ladies to vie for political positions. What is interesting is that all the aspirants promised the citizens good results. Only time will tell whether they will get there with whoever emerges as the winner.
by Sauti Yetu | Feb 15, 2017 | Stories
The forum brought together residents of Ngei Ward; community groups; religious groups, individuals and prospective candidates for the Member of the County Assembly from different political parties in Ngei Ward.
The event was attended by 120 participants and facilitated by Mr. Tony Mboyo and Mr. Felix Odhiambo.
Activity Objectives
To provide a platform to the public that shifts political agenda from politician-led to community-led and give community members the opportunity to assess and ascertain the suitability of potential leaders to vie for public office;
To cultivate, shape and sustain issue-based electoral process that utilizes the principle of leadership and integrity as the supreme criteria of choosing potential leaders;
To increase and sustain productive engagement between the potential duty bearers and the right holders through public participation in a way that fosters responsiveness and responsibility.
In the preliminary sessions the moderator engaged both the aspirants and residents in understanding the roles and responsibilities of an elected Member of the County Assembly for Ngei Ward. This was followed by Setting of Ground Rules and Explanation of how the debate shall be conducted. The session that followed focused on presenting the cross-cutting developmental needs of Ngei ward as captured in the needs assessment forum preceding the political debate. Each aspirant each aspirant was then given an opportunity to articulate their manifestos/agenda to the electorate in line with the ward’s pressing developmental needs. The subsequent session involved question and answer session that involved the residents vetting the suitability of each candidate through putting each of them to task to outline different developmental concerns that were being raised by the residents.
Results
A total of five aspirants (5): Boniface Mwendwa, Joseph Chilingi, Michael Makau, Bonface Abuko, and Evans Asudi were brought on board to engage the residents and articulate their agenda to the ward and motivation to vie for public office;
The residents of Ngei ward used the Sauti Yetu political debate platform to assess the suitability of each aspirants to represent them;
Unlike in other circumstances where incumbent leaders shy away from debates with the public for fear of being put to task to justify their development record, Sauti Yetu managed to bring the incumbent MCA on board to respond to benchmark his development record against what he promised the residents in the previous election;
The Ngei ward political debate played a central role in cultivating and encouraging campaigns based key developmental issues affecting, marking a major shift from conventional campaigns that are characterized with personal attacks and propaganda.
by Sauti Yetu | Feb 6, 2017 | Stories
The training attracted community groups from four wards in Kibra Sub-County: Sarang’ombe, Makina, Woodley, Laini Saba and Lindi wards were represented in the training and mentorship. They included: Muungano; Kibra ni Kwetu; Uweza Gatwekera; Langata youth Network; Kibra young women Network; Soweto Forum and Project Biashara.
The event was attended by 29 participants and facilitated by Mr. Peterson Sure and Ms Jacinta Wanjiku.
Activity Objectives
To mentor Community-Based Groups to enable them to plan, organize and hold forums in their respective wards;
To equip Community-Based Groups with Sauti Yetu Community engagement toolkit;
To strategically plan with community-based groups for the Sauti Yetu Political Debates in their areas of work.
The preliminary sessions involved Participants introducing themselves and the organizations they represent; mission, vision and thematic areas of focus. This was followed by Setting of Ground Rules and Explanation of how the training shall be shall be conducted. The next phase involve undertaking SWOT Analysis of the groups; each group undertaking self-assessment to identify their strength, weaknesses, Opportunities and threats in carrying out running public participation forums. The subsequent sessions focused on taking the groups through the Sauti Yetu toolkit for organizing, running and managing public participation processes. The groups were the equipped with the toolkit for further insights on how to utilize the Sauti Yetu model to promote public participation in decision making.
Results
Through the toolkit training and mentorship; eight (8) groups from Kibra Sub-County were equipped with the Sauti Yetu toolkit to enable them use the model to influence decision making and promote public participation especially during this electioneering period;
Each group was equipped with the toolkit that will be utilized to organize and run public participation forums and political debates in their respective areas.
