mzalendo :: Eye On Kenyan Parliament

We recently made it clear that Mzalendo welcomes participation from MPs. One way in which we expected the participation to occur was through the MP comment function. When we set up the function, we relied on a healthy dose of blind faith and non-cynicism..for the comment function to truly function as we intended it we presumed MPs would read, and where pertinent respond to, comments from their constituents.

It seems that our faith and non-cynicism has been rewarded. Over the weekend, MP Ukur Yatani (North Horr) became the first MP to respond to a constituent’s question via the comment page on Mzalendo. He also updated his profile.

This is but a small step in the journey of Mzalendo, nevertheless we think that is a very important step to highlight because it demonstrates the spirit behind Mzalendo.

We often find ourselves fighting the perception that this project is generally an exercise in futility for any number of reasons. Our response:

- We are optimistic that our efforts, minimal as they are in the larger scheme of the political scene in Kenya, CAN have an impact.

- We refuse to be deterred by the fact that Mzalendo as it currently functions remains inaccessible to most Kenyans - if we spent our time worrying about how many people this site would reach the project would never have taken off - our philosophy has always been: If we build it they will come.

- We refuse to believe that NOTHING can be done to change the way our politicians and political institutions function and we refuse to believe arguments along the lines of “all Kenyan politicians are useless, so why bother?”

Rather, we believe that accountability is in most cases not self-generated - it stems from demand. Why should our politicians respond to questions that we don’t ask? Why wouldn’t they act in a manner that suggests that they don’t give a damn, if we fail to demonstrate that we do give a damn? And who knows, maybe there are some politicians who are different and who are trying to do the right thing…we just don’t know about them.

- We believe that doing nothing more than caricaturing our politicians, complaining, and waiting for the “right” candidates only reinforces the idea that our political system is a joke that is beyond redemption, we would rather spend time figuring out how to make the institutions that we have work better for us. We are better off saying that we tried and failed, rather than not have made an attempt to do something in the first place.

Thank you MP Ukur Yatani for reinforcing our belief that we are engaged in a very worthwhile endeavor!

We trust that your colleagues will see the value in this for them and for their constituents and participate as well.