CLIMATE TALKS IN BANGKOK: rich countries should do more in South Africa

Dear Friends--
I would like to agree with Stephen Mwakesi that the whole issue of climate financing has been elevated to look elitist by a few countries and companies that are profiteering from the process in Africa. I have had an opportunity to interact with Carbon Asset Companies in Europe, most of them have come to Africa with the Climate jargon, they enter into communities and launch their programs knowing very well that the community members do not understand their activities. They flash aid money in form of alleviating poverty and in some cases, development or simply governance kind of aid money. In the real sense, this companies are actually minting billions of dollars out of our virgin communities and smiling all the way to their Swiss banks.

Most of our political leaders still don't understand the technicalities that come with carbon financing. They rush to sign the contract agreement without reading in between the lines, we end up being the losers while this companies take advantage of our innocent ignorance. Indeed developing nations should be the ones to dictate the terms o engagement, sadly this is not the case. We need a new kind of advocacy, the west is not ready to see this happen. But we must insist if we have to start reworking the radical paradigm for Green Development in Africa for the world. A radical shift on how we engage with the developed nations will be the only medicine to the engagement.

I am of the opinion that developing nations should originate the contractual agreements. Africa must start to take lead of the discussions, we have more stake than those who are purporting to be on the front line. How do we create the jobs of tomorrow in Africa by Africans using African resources and brains? Climate Change will remain a shifty affair now that the west knows that it is the new kid on the block to unleash the kind of development money that Africa needs to leapfrog beyond the place that the west is in terms of economic, and infrastructural development.  It is true that the West is using the research now as a dangling carrot to woo communities into signing deals that will impoverish them. This is a power game as in a shopkeeper who fights to keep the poverty levels in his village at the same level in order to continue selling to the people products and not allowing for any kind of innovation to take place because he/she stands to lose if the community realizes that the new and innovative ways of dependency and come up with a way to self sufficiency using own resources and brains.

The West should stop the power games and make sure this time round the real owners of the deal have their way on the negotiating table as we head to South Africa. Climate Mitigation and Adaptation should be owned by the real stakeholders who will reverse this effects once and for all. We have a bigger stake on this issues as Africa, let us achieve an African Deal in the Climate Talks.

Emmanuel Dennis
Green Teams Initiative.

On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 5:57 PM, stephen mwakesi <smwakesi@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

Very interesting debates raised above.

I would like to carry on with it on three prongs, the UNFCCC process, Climate Finance and Contextual scenario of Kenya.

Indeed the whole issue of the UNFCCC process has been one that has dominated debate and ever more so since the COP 15. The fact that the discussions have tended to yield little in form of  binding commitments has lead to the general fatigue within CSOs dealing with the process. Matter of fact just recently I had debate with one of the partners in climate change in Kenya and she did express that most of the actors in the field are quite hopeless than hopeful. Going through the motions, thats what they seem to be doing. But as expressed by Mithika and Bwana Otieno before, we cannot afford to give up with the process. From what I have been able to gather is that, in as much as we approach this process from a justice prism, we should not be blind to the fact that this whole scenario is based upon economics and the politics of economics. The tethering that is being witnessed from the developed nations only emanates from the fact that the whole climate debate posses a threat to the status quo and the whole energy paradigm as it exists. Indeed until the big corporate interests have a clear foothold on the renewable and alternative energy sectors from a control and profit standpoint, they will constantly keep to the card of delay and paralyse until they come round. Whenever I spend time considering the positions taken in most of these high-level discussions, I come round to appreciating the fact that all this a big game of geopolitics with the dominant actors (read G8) as the gladiators playing to a crowd of hopeless and defenceless people who have not much to do lest the only persons in the amphitheatre with weapons turn on them. So this leads me to the next prong...

Climate Finance is indeed one of the key angles of entry for the developing nations within the UNFCCC process. Indeed I have argued before that within the Climate process Climate Finance through Adaptation and Mitigation is the map for a new development trajectory for the developing world. What has been the issue of contention, and with this argument am cautious, is the fact that developing nations are still playing the aid model yet in actual fact that should not be the case. As Halima has aptly pointed out we fail to move because we do not see this as an opportunity to create a new playing field where we are defining the terms and calling the shots in defining the new green development paradigm. As we spend time arguing on the texts, its vital that we invest energies in also defining the contracts and terms that Africa enters into in this new field that is slowly evolving. As Philip Kilonzo has pointed out, the new battle ground is in Africa and now the idea is to re-define the commodity that is land afresh and be able to create a new development paradigm with resources, labour and the entrepreneurial capacity being drawn from Africa with very little capital injection from the west. My fear has been that as we have been clamouring for more climate finance we have failed to look at the finer details and more and more communities are signing on the dotted lines significantly giving away their entrepreneurial skills, networks and labour for peanuts and still the real money has not arrived. When the money actually does arrive guess who will be in charge of all the mitigation and adaptation programs?

Contextualising the realities of today, I say that the battle with the establishment is one that can only be won with diligent spirits. Frankly, I think especially Africans of the Kenyan ilk are disappointingly not as fervent in the quest for justice as would be expected. Frankly am disappointed that the most that has come as protest or disgust out of the Hague antics and the Corruption dismissals has been side whispers and on-line chatter and maybe am disappointing myself too with this addition...Enough Said...For now perhaps...

Lets keep talking and begin acting,

Regards,

-- 
Stephen Mwakesi
Cell: +254 723 229 117/ +254 773 804041
Email: smwakesi@gmail.com
Blog: www.mwakesi.blogspot.com

Twitter: twitter.com/mwakesi

On 15 April 2011 14:33, Philip Kilonzo <Philip.Kilonzo@actionaid.org> wrote:

Dear all,

 

Financing for climate change mitigation programmes is quite an interesting area. Again the debate tilts to financing mitigation mainly in Africa.

 

As interesting as it is we need to be aware that we might give proposal that will open doors for land grabs in Kenya and Africa as a whole. Financing for mitigation if not well construed may be the avenue for the last and final wave of land acquisition (land grabbing) and may lead to massive acquisition of land previously public and community land. This reality is increasingly becoming clear in some quarters.

 

So any proposal we are fronting must cushion community and public land from private acquisition – real or implied.

 

Philip

 

---

From: kenya-climate-change-working-group@googlegroups.com [mailto:kenya-climate-change-working-group@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Halima Murunga
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 5:46 AM
To: Dominic WALUBENGO
Cc: josephmeruaki@yahoo.com; pacja-updates@googlegroups.com; kenya-climate-change-working-group@googlegroups.com; Mithika Mwenda; Philip Otieno; molenkako@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: (KCCWG) CLIMATE TALKS IN BANGKOK: rich countries should do more in South Africa

 

Hello all

They way carbon trading mechanism is slowly turning into a finance market the best option for climate financing is to create carbon finance products that Kenyans can invest, generate revenue to finance climate mitigation programmes. To save the Mau why not develop bonds or a futures for the whole catchment area that can attract investors for restoration purposes...

Think in house, if corporate entities have raised billions from debt financing why can't we.

On Apr 13, 2011 11:52 PM, "Dominic WALUBENGO" <waluwande@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear All,

Very good points. I have been following the climate change debate since 1988 and I am certain that the rhetoric has not changed. Every developed country (including China and India) is doing what is in their best interest. For all these years, the developing countries working through the Group of 77 and China have been demanding for climate justice; and climate related funding. This funding has not arrived, although a little money has come in but given names which make it look like new money. The sooner we stop fooling ourselves the better!

Dominic Walubengo

On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 10:11 AM, Mithika Mwenda <mwemithika@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Also look at se...

Dominic Walubengo PhD
DWalubengo@fankenya.org

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Join the Green Teams Initiative ...and be a part of the Simple Solutions that resolve the Global Complex Ecological Challenges

..........
Emmanuel Dennis Ngongo
YES Kenya/Green Teams Initiative
3rd Floor, Revlon Proffessional Plaza
Biashara Street, City Center
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +254722619005
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
Website: www.thegreenteams.org, www.yeskenya.org

Re: Where did these IDPs come from?

My Friends--
The issue of the IDP's will bedevil Kenya for a long time unless we
come up with a clear cut solution. Since we have IDPS all the way from
the MAUMAU days, I am of the opinion that Government does an audit and
makes sure that all Kenyans who want to own land for commercial
purposes are given a piece. I am sure the numbers of the IDPs are
negligible in the face of the Government. The Problem is when the
Government starts to use the issue for political gain. If this drags
on with the old way of politic, it is going to be very costly for
Kenya.

The government can no longer continue to profiteer politically with
the livelihoods of Kenyans. We now need to find a permanent solution
and make sure that this people are resettled once for all so that
Kenya can start to focus on other important issues such as Economic
and Structural Development.

And why are some of the IDPs refusing to go to some of the land that
has already been purchased for them? Where exactly do they want to be
ressetled? Can we as Kenyans embrace each other and accept that Kenya
is for all of us? When shall we begin to look at each other as the
keepers of each other peace and tranquility?

Sad news is that the current leadership can no longer manage this kind
of discourse. We need a fresh breed of Kenyans to rise up to the
echelons of leadership. Only then, when we start to re-look and rework
our old structures and rework them, shall we resolve the problems that
undermine peace, democracy and development in Kenya.

Will the current challenges that Kenya faces today be resolved by a
Benevolent Dictator? May be. I wonder loudly.

Emmanuel Dennis

On Apr 23, 2:48 pm, Njoroge Waithera <njorogep2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Bwana Oketch,
>
> I do not pretend to have the answers to your many questions but I know one thing; and that is that not all who were displaced had title to the land they occupied in the places from which they were displaced during the PEV. There are those who leased land and earned livelihoods for decades that way; others simply squatted on adjudicatted public or private places and provided labour in the farms or simply depended on symbiotic relationships they had with their hosts but all these came to naught at the disolution of that relationship courtesy of the PEV. Therefore having been born and bred under those circumstances, they did not know anybody or anywhere else outside their regions and thus knew not where to go.
>
> You ask where they came from, I do not know but certainly not Rwanda, Uganda or such other neighbouring principality. I do not wish to address the inference I make from this question but if I may, allow me to refer you to the archives to familiarize yourself with the fate of many a Mau Mau freedom fighter at independene when they returned from the cold slopes of Mt. Kenya and Aberdare Ranges from where they waged a seven-yr long struggle against the British colonialists to find their ancestral land occupied by homeguards...hitherto British collaborators. Since the government did not mind them at independence, they were left to wander to every corner of the Republic they had sacrificed so much to liberate. That is where most came from.
>
> I agree however, that the government should work at ensuring that peace prevails so that some - those who still hahve title to land - can be restored to their homes and duely compensated to start lives afresh. We must all strive to approach the re/settlement soberly lest we sow seeds of irrepparable discord among Kenyans who if I must state, have a right to live in every part of our Republic to start living the New Constitution.
>
> Njoroge Waithera
> Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR)
> The University of York
> Heslington, York
> YO10 5DD
> United Kingdom
>
> http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/cahr/
> +44 (0)1904 411792
> "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. "  Paulo Freire
> This email and its attachments may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email and its attachments, you must take no action based upon them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The University of York.
>
> ________________________________
> From: odhiambo okecth <komarockswa...@yahoo.com>
> Sent: Saturday, 23 April 2011, 12:04
> Subject: Re: [NYSA:6261] Where did these IDPs come from?
>
> Friends,
>
> >>>We have followed the circus of the Internally Displaced
>
>  Persons with utmost keenness since we believe in One Kenya Under One God.
>
> >>>However, we are now forced to come out with our thinking on the same.
>
> >>>The
>
>  term 'Internally Displaced Person' means you have been displaced from somewhere. If we have genuine peace amongst us, the Government should not be playing with our psychology about buying land for these people who have never been displaced from anywhere.
>
> >>>Those Kenyans who were
>
>  Internally Displaced should go back to where they were displaced from. What the Government should be concerned about is how to start them up again, build for them new houses and encourage dialogue and reconciliation.
>
> >>>But when the Government seems too pre-occupied with the idea of
>
>  buying land for these Kenyans., we are left to ask; Where were they displaced from and what became of their land? Or, was the land Displaced as well?
>
> >>>Secondly, it is a very sad scenario that Kenyans butchered each other and had some Displaced. This affected a cross section of Kenyans. How come what we are seeing now does not represent the face of Kenya?
>
> >>>Do we have some breed of Kenyans who must be transplanted across the country for expediency reasons?
>
> >>>If we want genuine peace, it must be our responsibility to accommodate each other as brethren. But when the Government attempts to transplant some Kenyans in Narok and fail, they attempt to do the same in Endebess and they fail again, it calls for quick audit.
>
> >>>Who are these Kenyans the Government is toying with all the times and where did they come from? Where did the Government get these people from?
>
> >>>The Government must stop this circus and face reality. Kenyans are
>
>  watching this saga with very keen interest as we wish all Kenyans well.
>
>
>
> >>>If it is to be, it is up to me. A Clean Kenya Starts With me. A Peaceful Kenya is my Responsibility.
>
> >>>Peace and blessings,
>
> >>>Odhiambo T Oketch
> >>>CEO KCDN NairobiNationwide Coordinator - Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign
> >>>PO Box 47890-00100,
> >>>Nairobi Kenya.
> >>>Tel; 0724 365 557 0735 529 126
> >>>Email; o...@kcdnkenya.org, komarockswa...@yahoo.com    
> >>>http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com
> >>>friendsofk...@yahoogroups.com
> >>>Facebook; Odhiambo T Oketch
>
> >>>Odhiambo T Oketch is the current
>
>  Chairman to the City Council of Nairobi Stakeholders Evaluation Team on Performance Contracting and Rapid Results Management. He is also Chair to the Nyamonye Catholic Church Development Fund.He was also the Co-Chair and Coordinator of The Great Nairobi Walk against Corruption that was held in Nairobi on the 22nd October 2010
>
> >>>--- On Sat, 4/23/11, Paul Nyandoto <paul.nyand...@phsotey.fi> wrote:
>
> >>>>From: Paul Nyandoto <paul.nyand...@phsotey.fi>
> >>>>Subject: [PK] There are NO IDPs in Kenya anymore/To Karanja
> >>>>To: progressive-kenyans@googlegroups.com, ka_g...@hotmail.com
> >>>>Date: Saturday, April 23, 2011, 5:02 AM
>
> >>>>Karanja,
>
> >>>>Nobody is against the IDPs except this government lead by Kibaki and orchestered by Uhuru Kenyatta and now Ruto. These people now called IDPs had a life before 2007 PEV and each and every one still alive can elaborate how he/she made life before 2007. It is now going almost 5 years why can`t their so leader collect information and give the government how they used to survive before 2007. If somebody burnt their kiosk or shop  let them show where those properties were
>
>  located, we need to live in peace do you get it?. After all for kenya to move on we need re-concilliation. I do not think that re-concilliation means going to a new land and start right away a new war zone. We are tired with wars and fighting. If this government is providing land to the landless then it should start with Kenyans who have been landless since independence. Kenyattas does not deserve a land the same size as nyanza
>  province and you
>  still have the guts to tell us that we should not offer solutions. Curing symptoms and leaving the cause of the disease will not help anything, starting another war front with different tribes will also not help in the long run. If counties are created then those IDPs now matching to Kitale will see hell again, may be even more than the one they saw in rift valley. I think only fools do not get it now. By the way do you know how much Diaspora sent home to help in the PEV. If you do not know then just shut up.
>
> >>>>Paul Nyandoto
>
> >>>>>>> karanja goro  04/23/11 12:20 AM >>>
> >>>>IDP are still there. why do we in this forum think IDP are only those who owned land. most of us in this fora ve little use for land. its the same for some IDP's who were experts in different fields other than farming. the IDP's issue is more than an intellectual discource which we seem to be expounding here. its sad most of those offering their views
>
>  are not even here- in kenya- Can we stop offering solutions to kenyans who are on the ground from our ivory towers.
>
> >>>>Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:14:46 -0700
> >>>>From: ikirimakagwi...@yahoo.com
> >>>>Subject: Re: [PK] There are NO IDPs in Kenya anymore
> >>>>To: progressive-kenyans@googlegroups.com
> >>>>CC: manderae...@gmail.com; paul.nyand...@phsotey.fi
>
> >>>>Paul
> >>>>What i am seeing today is a case similar to a mentally sick person who smiles when thing are bad and cries when things are good. Can we trust Kenyas for what they say anymore? If somebody
>
>  kills your child and i see you eating together, unless am mentally retarded not to smell a rat. The two guys are, one organized for killing a certain tribe and the other defended his people by organizing more killings. Today both are very good friends, yet no going back of the IDPs from where they came from. If this is true unity, it should also benefit the IDPs. As these guys are cerebrating, no IDP is talking and this is even more shocking. I would be expecting IDPs to react at this time but they are silent. I hope you are also smelling a rat here. There is so much the two and those IDPs know that we
>
> >>>>don't know. No wonder Murugi can threaten to strip naked if the ocampos never returned from Hague, yet she cannot do the same if IDPs are not resettled. Is it because Ruto excited her by saying he was a man and those men in IDPs are women? Think twice about the IDP and ocampo6 relationship.
>
> >>>>Rose
>
> >>>>From: Paul Nyandoto
> >>>>To: manderae...@gmail.com; progressive-kenyans@googlegroups.com
> >>>>Sent: Fri, April 22, 2011 1:27:00 PM
> >>>>Subject: [PK] There are NO IDPs in Kenya anymore
>
> >>>>Humans,
>
> >>>>Just start by calling me names because of the topic I have placed up there, but sometimes somebody has to call a spade  a spade NOT a big spoon. Post election violence was at the end of 2007 and the early months of 2008. We are now in 2011 and next year we are facing both presidential and parliamentarian election. That is almost 5 solid years since 2007 election.
>
> >>>>How comes it we still have kenyans plus government
>
> ...
>
> read more »

Egypt - A Lesson in Chaos

KAREN "TALLKAT" CONLEY February, 2011

Egypt: A Lesson in Chaos

 

"In life you need either desperation or inspiration."

-Tony Robbins

 

Last week the hubby called from the car repair shop to say he was watching Egypt rioting in the streets on TV, so I tuned into CNN.

 

Wow. Egypt…is desperate for change.  Politics aside, the Egyptian people have captured the attention of the world because they have done something really powerful.

 

They have aligned with each other and united in one voice.

 

Henry David Thoreau said "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them."

 

That is not the case in Egypt.

In London supporters of the  uprising made their voices heard near the Egyptian embassy. A sign held up by a young man read: "Riot like an Egyptian."

(The youth of London get it. Students and others recently protested the raising of taxes on college tuition.  They actually pushed back the mounted police by walking toward them instead of dispersing.  The outnumbered police were forced to back off.)   Perhaps we could take a lesson.   A Cairo resident said, "Beware the anger of the patient". After thirty years of dictatorship under a tyrannical leader, the people are speaking up for freedom, in  the hope of a better future for their children in spite of discomfort, high risk, and opposition.   Creation often involves risk and discomfort. Ask any great inventor, actor, poet or statesman.   I have always said that chaos gets a bad rap and peace is often over rated.   Chaos is the engine of change --on individual, national and universal levels.   Many of my clients are facing difficult life-altering challenges such as bankruptcy, chronic or unexpected illness, serious financial losses, lack of medical care, unemployment, and depression.   "We must find a way to become balanced while being unbalanced, uncomfortable and still not be thrown off by the imbalance. No matter how unbalanced we become, no matter what the circumstances, or how unsteady we feel, we can  be at peace, live with purpose and continue to grow by making powerful new choices."  (Off Balance on Purpose, by Rev. Kylie Renner in Truly Alive Jan-Feb)"   The idea that order often emerges from disorder is a mind bending, counter-intuitive and troubling idea to many. I encourage you to check out The Secret Life of Chaos, a wonderful documentary that teaches us, through the natural world, that chaos has something to offer. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/secret-life-chaos/   The natural world is actually one big blooming, buzzing mass of lively confusion! From clouds to trees, to the human experience: you will never look at the world, chaos, or disorder in the same way after viewing The Secret Life of Chaos.   How does one remain at peace within when the circumstances around us are not orderly or peaceful? What can we do when the external environment currently does not match our dreams?  Why does one uncomfortable challenge after another continue to present itself to us - just as we overcome one, here comes another?   Many times the higher self creates difficult, even tragic events, in our lives. The human part of us simply cannot grasp the meaning in it at the time, yet there is a higher wisdom present.   Chaos: It is here to stay and it serves a purpose.   We are living during an earth cycle of change meant to create a huge jump into the unknown territory of an emerging age of a greater understanding. We are striving to assume our place in a greater universal community.   It is no longer so important to fuss over our appearence, to be entertained all the time, or to maintain the status quo of comfort.   It is more important that we wake up.  News Flash: Spiritual growth and personal change was never meant to comfortable, or even orderly.   Many spiritual teachers and self-proclaimed gurus have created large followings (and equally large incomes) by telling us that all we have to do is 'live' in the emotional heart space, wear a crystal, do the best we can, and pray for the healing of the earth.   We know from experience that human feelings can decieve us, overwhelm or mislead us at times.   The inner voice and human emotion are often in conflict. It is best to recognize the difference.   Chaos, challenge, and confrontation are intrinsically part of human development and growth. It is not possible to heal what you do not confront.   Here are a few suggestions that will help you in navigating the rising tide of change and circumstance that surrounds us:   Let nothing, and I mean nothing, get between you and Source. The ability to maintain focus, which meditation teaches us, is of vital and critical importance in the midst of emotional upheaval, emergency or anxiety.   I personally have experienced the "miracle" of stepping away from myself, disengaging from the emotion of fear or dread, into objective, clear focus when problem solving.   This is a powerful inner "miracle" that everyone should experience! Don't let the simplicity of the concept fool you.   Disorder, chaos, change, and revolt are necessary parts of life – when the time is right for it. These growth patterns line the pathway of all great change in society, families, and relationships.   These growth patterns are present in nature's wild and beautiful rhythms.   Take the time to speak with and to each other. Gurus, holy robes, talismans, crystals, and other so-called spiritual thing-a-ma-jigs belong to the past. The future is about choice, freedom and healthy alliances with each other.   These alliances are a glimpse of future neighborhoods and communities where individual choice, equality and self reliance are present.   Many of us are beginning to leave the herd of mainstream society in search of a new watering hole! Be your own guru. Align with and help each other.   In closing, I offer you Three Principles:   1. Question outer authority. 2. Rely on inner wisdom. 3. Think independently.   Change and chaos can serve you well if you choose to go with the flow of it, remembering that above all else: YOU ARE LOVED!

--
--
REWORK THE WORLD
www.reworktheworld.org

Join the Green Teams Initiative ...and be a part of the Simple Solutions that resolve the Global Complex Ecological Challenges

..........
Emmanuel Dennis Ngongo
YES Kenya Leader
Initiator of the Green Teams Initiative
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +254722619005
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
Website: www.thegreenteams.org, www.yeskenya.org/new

Kenya 28th Feb (Call to Action)

Dear Kenyans,
The National Youth Sector Alliance is in full support of the Action on 28th February. Please mobilise as many young people in your Networks to participate.

ED
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the face of continued ethnic polarization and a highly politicized atmosphere, a group of Kenyans have gotten together to organize an initiative to unite Kenyans by all singing the national anthem at the same time (concept below). This initiative is scheduled to coincide with the day of the signing of the National Accord.

We will sing and unite at various fora around the country at 1 pm on 28th Feb. Participants will congregate within the locales in which they live and work, and can sing the national anthem in English or Swahili. The idea is for people to sing along to the national anthem as it is played on the radio or TV regardless of where they are or what they are doing (all 3 verses). As this is not a protest or a demonstration, following the national anthem, people will simply disperse and carry on with their day.

This is an initiative that belongs to all Kenyans:  aimed at uniting us under the banner of our national anthem.

Asante,

Tom.

#KENYA28FEB – CONTEXT

(Sing & unite)

We are extremely proud to be Kenyan.
We are proud of our beautiful country
We are proud of our diversity cultures and traditions

We are proud of our heroes

We are proud of our high achievers

We are proud of being hustlers

We are proud of our hoods

We are proud of our tribes and twengs

We are proud of our kanges and our mats
We are proud of our artists and musicians
We are proud of our industries and farms!
We are proud of our sports teams!
 
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, wherever you are, at work, in the supermarket, in traffic, in school, on campus, in hospitals, in churches, in mosques, in temples, in synagogues, on sports pitches, in court, on your farm, at police stations, at armed forces barracks, in matatus, in buses, on the beach, in the game parks, at the airport, in parliament, in State House, in your homes...
 
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we stand
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we unite
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we shall speak in one voice.
 
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, let's sing our national anthem, all three verses
 
On the 28th February 2011 the world will watch as Kenyans stand UNITED:  1pm, 1 nation, 1 people, 1 anthem, united in 1 prayer for 1 Kenya!

We are Kenya!

--
--

Egyptian Revolution Led by the Youth

Dear Good Kenyans,

If the events in Egypt ae anything to go by, the Kenyan youth population needs to learn something on holding the country at a higher moral ground and stand for what is right in-spite of pressure from the establishment. I have been closely following the events in Egypt as the story there unfolds. I would like to share this article with you--the first I have seen that goes into at least a small amount of detail on the organizing strategies of the young people who started the demonstrations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html?pagewanted=1&ref=middleeast

Social Media has once again proved to be a powerful tool that has turned extremely political. As such let no one dismiss the bloging in Kenya today. It may be what we have been waiting for. Really interesting to see how social media has helped the youth to get organized and informed on how they could effectively protest. This is certainly a time to watch and think about next steps to support the development of the youth movement in Kenya if we must achieve the 2nd rebirth of our nation now through the ballot.

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REWORK THE WORLD
www.reworktheworld.org

Join the Green Teams Initiative ...and be a part of the Simple Solutions that resolve the Global Complex Ecological Challenges

..........
Emmanuel Dennis Ngongo
YES Kenya Leader
Initiator of the Green Teams Initiative
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +46706048398
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
Website: www.thegreenteams.org, www.yeskenya.org/new

Why Africa needs to lower its voting age to 16

Why Africa needs to lower its voting age to 16

 

With the youngest and fastest growing population in the world, Africa

should move to convert the 'youth bulge' from a threat into a

development opportunity

 

Calestous Juma

Wednesday February 9, 2011

guardian.co.uk

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/feb/09

 

In apparent concern following democratic uprisings in north Africa, the

African Union has decided to hold its next summit in June 2011

on the theme of "accelerating youth empowerment for sustainable

development".

 

One of the most pressing issues in African politics is to realign the

continent's voting systems with its age structure. One way to do this is

to lower the voting age to 16 so as to expand opportunities for more

young people help shape their own future.

 

Africa has the youngest and fastest growing population in the world.

Over 40% of the population are under the age of 15. More than 20% are

between the ages of 15 and 24. Three out of five of Africa's employed

are young people, according to the International Labour Office. Young

people account for 36% of the overall working age population.

 

There are two key steps Africa can take now that can help to convert the

"youth bulge" from a threat into a development opportunity. The first is

political inclusion, by lowering the voting age, and the second is

expanding opportunities for technical training and associated job

creation.

 

Most African countries have set the minimum voting age at 18. The

decision to do so is based more on tradition and less on careful

observation of social, economic and political realities. Demographic

shifts, education, greater access to new technologies, access to

information and political awareness have significantly improved

decision-making among Africa's youth.

 

The minimum voting age is 21 in Central African Republic and Gabon, and

20 in Cameroon. But people between the ages of 12 and 18 work,

participate in political discussion through social media, and make

household decisions. Yet they cannot vote. In Kenya, for example, which

has a population of 38 million, about 4 million people are aged between

12 and 18, most of whom are socially, economically and politically

active.

 

Lowering the voting age 16 for all African countries would not only

reflect the demographic structure of the continent, but it would also

expand political participation. Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and

Nicaragua have lowered the voting age to 16. In Bosnia, Serbia and

Slovenia, 16-year-olds can vote if they are employed. The voting age in

Indonesia, North Korea, Timor-Leste and the Seychelles is 17.

 

Lowering the voting age continues to be the subject of heated debate in

many countries. One of the main arguments put forward against it is that

people at the age of 16 cannot be relied upon to make informed

decisions. These arguments are usually made by older people who ignore

the many decisions that young people already make.

 

People at 16 have much more at stake in regard to the future than many

of those holding power today. Yet there is no maximum voting age, except

in the Vatican where 80 is the upper limit for voting for a new pope.

 

In some countries politicians have resisted the move by seeking the

redefine the term "youth". A few years ago a Kenyan politician, Muhammad

Kuti, proposed that the legal definition of "youth"

[http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1762806.htm"

title="definition of youth">definition of "youth] should be changed to

include people under the age of 50.

 

It is true that lowering the voting age will not necessarily increase

political participation by young people. It will need to be accompanied

by formal and informal political education. However, political education

on the role of young people is even more urgent for older leaders whose

worldviews were shaped by more traditional societies. Many of them do

not realise the extent to which modern technologies and education have

shifted power from centralised authorities to peer networks.

 

The AU summit will be hosted by its new chairperson, President Teodoro

Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power since 1979 and has

been heavily criticised for human rights violations. His effort to

create a UN science prize in his name was recently revoked after

opposition from human rights groups. Obiang's one-year stint gives him

an opportunity to lead a genuine effort to "empower" Africa's youth by

getting countries to lower the voting age to 16. Without such decisive

and immediate steps, the summit will appear to young people as yet

another forum that is strong on promise and weak on delivery.

 

If you have any questions about this email, please contact the

guardian.co.uk user help desk: userhelp@guardian.co.uk.

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--
--
REWORK THE WORLD
www.reworktheworld.org

Join the Green Teams Initiative ...and be a part of the Simple Solutions that resolve the Global Complex Ecological Challenges

..........
Emmanuel Dennis Ngongo
YES Kenya Leader
Initiator of the Green Teams Initiative
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +46706048398
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
Website: www.thegreenteams.org, www.yeskenya.org/new

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