Time to embrace Green Politics in Kenya

Fellow Kenyans, we live in uncertain times. Our flora and fauna is in peril. Both local and global economies are becoming increasingly steeped in favor of networked cartels. Politics in our country is becoming detached and unresponsive to the basic needs of the masses as government continues to operate as a club of the privileged. My recent personal chat with some rural based youth and women reveals increasing sense of frustration and widespread loss of hope.

As the English say, ‘every dark cloud has a silver lining’. It is my conviction that the burdens of our time form the foundation upon which we must strive to restore dignity to our people.  As party leader of Green Congress Party of Kenya (GCK), I wish to share with you the following roadmap upon which we can together walk and achieve our collective dream.

Firstly, I address our fidelity to Kenya’s 2010 constitution and its ideals. I am persuaded that our country – and our world – has never been thirstier for politics anchored on Social Justice and constitutionalism. The universal principles of Grassroots Democracy, Inclusivity, and Ecological Sustainability remain critical to the health of our nation. These standards remain the North Star that guide us in GCK, a Party I proudly join and exhort fellow Kenyans to embrace.

Secondly, the existential threat facing humanity today is unabated environmental degradation and climate change. Our planet is perilously warming and our ecosystems fundamentally changing for the worse. Pandemics traceable to our interaction with the environment and buoyed by our consumerist market economy has continued to throw us into chaos and suffering. Our politics is increasingly deviating from the fundamental goal of providing lasting solutions to this problem. This must change. GCK continues to listen to the voice of the people and the facts of science. We will make sound choices to contribute in achieving SDGs and contribute to the universal goal of protecting future generations from predictable calamities.

Thirdly, we must fix our politics. For far too long Kenyans have been trapped in a political circus with mainstream political parties perpetually chocking under the grip of a few individuals and entrenched cartels. This has created a tragic culture where political leadership and managers of public affairs have fundamentally lost capacity to be transparent and accountable. As a consequence, tax money has over the years fallen captive of these cartels whose appetite for deal money has far overtaken their call to duty. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased with the poor drifting further into destitution. In addition, citizens have increasingly been disenfranchised to a point where their votes no longer counts.

GCK is providing an alternative platform championing a Green Coalition to halt this entrenched and destructive political/economic system. We can salvage the disillusioned and hopeless young generation. We can protect and conserve our natural resources and most importantly foster equality for all through sound policies and programs. The institutions and the entire architecture which govern and sustain our society should be, and indeed can be, guided by Green philosophies. In our rich diversity we can unite for our own good under the Green umbrella.

We therefore have unfinished business. Philosopher Seneca said: “If one does not know to which port he is steering, no winds are favorable”. Fellow citizens, we must ride in the crest of the moment. We must work for the good of humanity. Let us join together and build a political and economic system that works and which we can proudly bequeath our children. For our environment and the health of our planet let us put our hands together and rally around Green ideologies inside GCK.

Hillary Alila

Party Leader   |   Green Congress Party of Kenya.