The Cost of Our Vote

Last week I had an insightful conversation with my sister Maureen which went like this…

“…Just had a very interesting conversation with a young lady of about 30. She said to me 'ukitaka kura yangu, leta ngunia kumi ya unga niuze, ndio uchukue kura yangu'. She said that life in Kenya is too hard to 'vote for free'. I am utterly shocked by the fact that she thinks Kenya will not change soon and that one person cannot bring change. She is "educated" and a business woman. How can this selfishness, short sightedness and lack of belief be changed?”

Kikao Cha Mtana Tendai We press on! We seek the selfless! We encourage those who are determined to take the limits off our destiny! There will be no substitute for difficult conversations in this season. Conversations like the one you have just heard should spur us to find 5 more people who despite today's challenges are able to hope so that we may see increase and enlarge our economic territories! Connect with your destiny! Nipe Tano

As of the 7^th December 2012, the registered number of voters in Mombasa County was just over 200,000, 46% of the IEBC target.

Michael Waiyaki, a young Kenyan registers as a voter

What worries me is not the level of uptake in the process but the quality of the registration. To the non-political eye the registration may look like individuals who are interested in making a difference at the next election. However this is not the case. 50% of the registered voters in Mombasa have been coerced to register by a “financial” incentive, to be precise an average of Kshs. 200/- per voter. This is the down payment that some of our leaders are paying in exchange for power and authority! The balance of this amount (Kshs. 500/-) is payable on Election Day when this database of voters is brought out to vote!

Let us examine this transaction. If we hit the target of 437,000 in Mombasa, 50% of these voters will have been registered at the cost of Kshs. 700/-, an amount of Kshs. 150m will have been spent in exchange for executive, legislative authority not to mention at least Kshs. 4bn in procurement.

Has the value of our politics been reduced to Kshs. 700/-? When did we turn our political space to a market place? Are we worth Kshs. 140/- per year? Where has this Kshs. 150m been over the past 5 years? Could this kind of money not have built the schools we want to see, the clinics we seek to establish, and the investment promotions we desire?

Michael believes that his vote counts

As I have engaged the voters in Mombasa in getting more people to organize in groups of 5, many of them are encouraged by the increased options to choose from in the coming general election. Despite this public auction, I am encouraged by the level of discernment among the voters to take the money but know that their vote counts! Their hope lies in an efficiently run election that ensures that their vote counts. Issack Hassan, the team at the IEBC and the police force, the ball is in your court. Let us make every vote count!

Note to Isaack Hassan: Can the IEBC office in Mombasa set up registration centers in the CBD and the malls that will enable staff to register during their lunch breaks? Many may not make it on time to register, especially with the malls now open even on Sunday.  

The Mango Tree Experience

Mwakirunge represents Mombasa’s potential. Just as Mombasa’s potential remains unseen to most people, yet to those who, like myself, have been called to see that which most eyes do not see, to hear that which most ears will not hear and to conceive that which most minds will not conceive, that’s what we went to see in Mwakirunge. We saw potential, we heard potential and we conceived potential. And we did this as well by registering as voters.

Registration as a voter for me is not just about a thumb print and a BVR machine. It is indicative of a time that has come to restore dignity. The connection with the Wazee Barazani was an opportunity to connect with them and the things that I heard were not simple things. They were heavy things. When you hear old men telling you about the land that they have known since they were young boys, is land that they now now find themselves in a situation with where people will come and claim ownership to. As he stood by a mango tree that is over a hundred years old and planted by his grandfather and identifies that tree as an indication of their ownership or ‘title’ to the land.

"This tree is my title deed..." they would say.

I think I finally understood the stake to ownership that  people at the Coast have had to their land. I have often heard that individuals would often claim ownership over the tree rather than the land itself. But what I did not realize is that they meant that the tree comes from the land and every tree produces after its own kind and therefore you cannot have the tree without having the land.

However, what I realize is that this has been a process of economic disenfranchisement and that what’s changed are the systems of men from one where the land was identified by the tree. But a new system has come into play that they do not understand and by and large it is not their fault that they do not understand it, and yet it is their responsibility to learn. But they still hold on to their identification of the tree. That is their title deed.

Tendai engaging with some elders from Mwakirunge

I believe that this is the beginning of a dialogue. And as I said to them, I will tell their story on Facebook, on radio, on their debates. What has happened and has been said over the years is a disenfranchisement to the system.

It was significant to go with my son Gabriel who turned 1 today. Gabriel represents the shift in times and seasons. It was significant to go on the 5^th day as his life is an expression of unfolding times. It was also significant to go in the 12^th month as this is the number of the fullness of governance. For me today, the celebration of Gabriel’s birth day is an expression of a new beginning; a shift in governance. Mombasa’s life will never be the same again.

Tendai Mtana - Activates Nipe Tano!

    

Tendai headed with his tano (the 5th one was taking the photo :-) 

''Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals, and to imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.'' - Caroline Kennedy

“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.” ― Naomi Klein

Terri Tendai with their Son Gabriel also showed up

Nipe Tano is an initiative by Tendai Mtana, rallying Kenyans especially those in Mombasa, to register as voters. You realize Kenyans like doing things together. And so we are asking you to get together with four of your friends and encourage each other to register. They could be your chama-mates, your neighbor or even your family. Once you register, take a pic of the five of you and post it on our facebook page Nipe Tano.

“Every election is determined by the people who show up.”  ― Larry J. Sabato, Pendulum Swing

Tendai registering at Mwakirunge Primary School, Mwakirunge Ward, Kisauni Constituency, Mombasa County. 

Rebuilding The Walls of Mombasa

The greatest social problem of our generation in Mombasa is that of conformity to global and national patterns and ideas of this world. This has meant that in every area of influence over all the earth, our generation brings very little to the general Commonwealth of Nations. 

The season has come to connect our dignity to our destiny as a part of politics given our way of life of truth, reconciliation and healing based on the principle of neighbourhood as residents of Mombasa.. 

We have come up with a campaign called Nipe Tano where we are challenging the people of Mombasa to arise and build their city. We have to participate and encourage our neighbors to do the same. We have to bring the change we need, the change we want. We have to see ourselves as part of the solution to the challenges we are facing. We have to take initiative and drive our city forward.

Nipe Tano seeks to raise a generation that will:

1. Affirm family values as the firm foundation of our homes
2. Enable knowledge based, lifelong, teaching and learning that will empower generations
3. Create a lifestyle of wellbeing and care that will dignify lives
4. Facilitate economic growth through investing in healthcare in order to be globally competitive
5. Establish a City that relates on the principle of neighbourhood that will enhance the art of life

The campaign seeks to train and induct residents through the FLAG Leadership Centres in 12 areas of influence, support this generation of leaders with the spiritual, natural, financial and human resource and send them out into the world to be ambassadors of transformation.

You are welcome to be a part of this great movement.