Friends, In the Year 2002, Kenyans were united as ONE people in voting for change, and in the General Elections of that year, we all voted for Hon Mwai KIbaki as our President. Kenyans made a very clear choice in uniting against tribalism, corruption, greed, impunity and all that. Kenyans were tired and they needed a leader who could help bring change. During the campaigning period, Hon Mwai Kibaki had had an accident that left him confined out of the field and Eng Amolo Raila Odinga stepped in and upped his game. He bacame the Player Captain and told all our foot soldiers that the Captain was injured but the game could not be stopped. We had to keep playing, and we did win. Hon Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as our 3rd President in Public and his first speech as our President did not disappoint. He said there will be no more road side declarations and that the time for everything goes was over. He promised Kenyans that he will be the champion of the change we had for so long fought for. And Kenyans believed in him and his promise of hope. What happened between the Year 2003 and 2007 December is all history.  Happy Kenyans and friends join hands in a Clean-up Campaign at Kondele in Kisumu in March 2012
In the Year 2007, we again went for an Election, and this time around, The Captain was pitted against his Boss, the former Captain. Having deputized for him in 2002 and winning the game massively for him, many Kenyans were of the view that it was going to be pay back time and that Kenyans were going to vote for Raila Odinga. Indeed many did, but the results were contested and the President was sworn in back to office at night and chaos broke out across all Kenya. The result was 1,133 Kenyans killed, almost 600,000 displaced, and lots of property worth Millions destroyed. Did Kenyans learn anything at all? I bet not. We are behaving as if Post Election Violence NEVER happened in our Midst.
We are faced with a General Election on the 4th of March 2013 and all signs are that we are going to have a big mess of ourselves. We have gone very Tribal as a People and this is threatening. Our leaders are daily inciting Kenyans and nothing is being done to rein them in. NCIC has been dead for some time now and Dr Kibinjia lost his voice and then closed both his eyes and ears. He sees nothing and he hears nothing, yet, he is earning a fat salary EVERY Month.
Violence is breaking out across Kenya, even in areas that have been very peaceful, and our Police are behaving as if they have no idea of what they should do. Are Kenyans going to be safe if the Police cannot even defend themselves. This is going to be the story- we were overwhelmed, we never saw it coming, we are under staffed, they have superior fire-power....
The Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission is not assuring Kenyans that they are equal to the task ahead and this is worrying. And the Chief Executive is silent. He is only presiding over functions- today opening this, and tomorrow opening that, yet, the Country is disintegrating under his watch.
We are being prepared for a worse case scenario. And we are all behaving like sheep headed for the slaughter. I want to believe that we can do something as a people. As we head to next year, can we identify the values we want in leadership? Are we ready to vote in Pimps, Charlatans, Drug Lords, Suspects and Mandarins as our next set of Leaders?
Can we look at each other in the face and smile? Not Grin. Can we for once decide to be honest with each other? We are a community of 42 Tribes and I do not see anything wrong with one Tribe producing leadership at every election, so long as many of us vote for that leaders. But is it moral to buy votes? Is it moral to auction a whole tribe? Is it normal to play deaf with Kenyans at this time in our history? We were touted as the most optimistic people of the World in 2003, because we had united as a people to vote in Hon Mwai Kibaki as our President, regardless of his tribal affiliation. The question is, why are we now more tribal than we were before? I was once shocked when we were in a function in some Town and when it was time for News at 9, they switched off the TV when one Presidential Candidate was on the News and switched on once his News slot had passed. I was shocked and decided to engage those people. I simply introduced myself, bought them around of beer and engaged. At the end of it, we became friends and the following day, they joined with us in a Clean-up Campaign. One of them has since become a very good Friend of TCKC and he is Preaching Peace and Good Governance pretty well.He realized that we must not be blinded by hate for people we do not even know. How many know Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Kalonzo Musyoka? And if you do not know them, why must you then die for them? Kill for them? Destroy property for them?
In 2002, we buried tribalism. In 2007, we re-invented tribalism and now, we are going to be consumed by tribalism. At The Clean Kenya Campaign, we are very firm on issues of Environmental Management, Peace Building and Good Governance, and we talk without fear on these issues because we firmly believe that our Environment presents us with untapped National Resource- the next frontier for National Development, enough for all of us as Kenyans. We also believe that when it comes to leadership, we MUST not evoke tribal sentiments and vote for a leader simply because he comes from my community. We want to invite Kenyans to pause for a moment, interrogate these leaders who are daily preaching tribalism and hate, look back at where we are coming from and make an informed choice. Are we going to vote for Tribalism, Greed, Impunity, Corruption and Money, or, are we going to vote for leadership based on clear National Values, Integrity, Humility, Peace, Good Governance? Are we going to respect our Constitution?
Are we going to vote for Kenya, or are we going to set Kenya on FIRE? Remember, we are all eqaul partners in Kenya.
Look at this Petition and if you are agreeable to its content, sign and help disseminate the same far and wide;http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/removing-the-director-of-environment-at-ccn-from-office.html
Let us Move From Talking to Tasking as we Stay with the Issues garbage. Let us all work for a Clean Kenya and a Clean Africa as a Transformative Deliverable as we turn 50 in Kenya.
Odhiambo T Oketch,
Executive Director, The Clean Kenya Campaign- TCKC Tel; 0724 365 557 The Clean Kenya Campaign is an Initiative of The KCDN Kenya | 
Happy Kenyans and friends join hands in a Clean-up Campaign at Kondele in Kisumu in March 2012
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