GSI LAUNCHES A MASSIVE CIVIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF THE GENERAL ELECTIONS
Past events -GSI at County Hotel, Githunguri
By: Awuor Grace
Worth Noting:
- GSI has a long history in community Mobilization and engagement. It was founded in 1993 and has championed many causes touching on gender diversity. One such initiative is promotion of women and youth in political processes. The organization has been pushing for more women to offer themselves for elective positions as well as to register as voters and turn up to vote on the Election Day. This initiative has seen a lot of success in the past two elections.
- Devolution has opened up space for more elective posts with a dedicated post for a County Member of Parliament (Woman Representative). Young women and men have found a safe space to launch their political careers as Members of the County Assembly, which is an equally powerful position in the governance structure.
Gender Sensitive Initiatives (GSI) a National Non-governmental Organization held a breakfast in a Nairobi Hotel to launch the Civic Education Program targeting 5 counties in the Central Region. The program which targets mainly women and youth is aimed at providing the targeted audience with credible and reliable information on civic awareness, and participation in the Electoral Processes. Such programs are important at a time of high political campaigns to provide a neutral and unbiased motivation for the wananchi to turn up and cast their votes.
Speaking during the event, the Executive Director, Mrs. Nancy Gachoka expressed concerns on the sustained misinformation and misrepresentation of facts by politicians and said it was important that the objective of casting votes in a general election should not be left only to politicians to articulate.
“People are approaching the campaign period as bitter citizens from the negative messages they have been fed with by politicians. Election Campaigns should carry messages of hope and a promise of better things to come” she said. “If people vote right, they should be assured that their choice candidate holds their best interests and has the competencies to deliver what he/she promised in the campaign. They should not therefore start crying foul of the decisions they make at the ballot, six months after voting” she added.
GSI has a long history in community Mobilization and engagement. It was founded in 1993 and has championed many causes touching on gender diversity. One such initiative is promotion of women and youth in political processes. The organization has been pushing for more women to offer themselves for elective positions as well as to register as voters and turn up to vote on the Election Day. This initiative has seen a lot of success in the past two elections.
Devolution has opened up space for more elective posts with a dedicated post for a County Member of Parliament (Woman Representative). Young women and men have found a safe space to launch their political careers as Members of the County Assembly, which is an equally powerful position in the governance structure.
The program dubbed Civic Education Mashinani will run for 6 months and will involve intensive community engagement activities in a bid to help them make sense of the power they hold through their votes and the need to turn up and vote for their preferred candidate. The program will remind the communities that they will have to live with the outcomes of the voting day for a term of 5 years so it is paramount to vote wisely.
Mr. Mwangi Kanagi, the Head of Programs at GSI underscored the need to have peaceful elections. Every candidate should be given a fair chance to campaign and sell their manifestos in any part of the country. Peace will ensure that voters make their sober judgement and cast the votes without coercion or intimidation. “This program will underscore the need to have a peaceful environment during the campaign period and during the voting day. Political competition lasts for a season and should never be the reason why families break and neighbours rise against neighbours” he said.
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