Our Philosophy

The Green Congress of Kenya’s philosophical basis is grounded on the firm belief that:-

• A system based on inequality and exploitation is threatening the future of the Kenya, and encouraging reckless personal and communal behaviours.
• A Kenya based on cooperation and democracy would prioritise the many, not the few, and would not risk the Country’s future with environmental destruction and unsustainable consumption.
• Conventional political and economic policies are destroying the very foundations of the wellbeing of humans and other animals. Our culture is in the grip of a value system and a way of understanding the world which is fundamentally flawed.
• Since independence the ruling parties have mainly pursued the goal of economic growth camouflaged as encompassing social development. Some people have indeed become very rich amidst abject poverty. The poor in Kenya are becoming poorer as wealth continues to be transferred to the rich people from the poor ones.
• Traditional political parties continue to promote policies which will lead not to more riches, even for the few, but poverty for all.
• The pursuit of economic growth as a force driving over-exploitation of Kenya should cease. We should aim to develop sustainable economy, which improve well-being focused on human values rather than consumerism. Traditional measures of economic activity, such as GDP, should be replaced by new indicators that measure progress towards this aim.
• Traditional politics divides humans from nature and the individual from society. The rejection of this way of seeing the world is fundamental to the Party’s philosophy. Rather than set them against each other, the Party seeks healthy interdependence of individual, nature and society.
• As human beings, we all have the potential to live co-operatively and harmoniously with each other, and with reverence and respect for the complex web of life of which we are a part. Yet it has become increasingly obvious that this potential cannot be realised while basic human needs remain largely unmet.
• By basic needs we mean not only the physiological needs of food, water, air, shelter and sleep, but also psychological needs. These include the need for love, respect, autonomy, security, and meaningful activity within our communities.
• The fact that many people’s basic needs are not met has far reaching consequences which may be expressed as anxiety, insecurity, and aggressive behaviour towards others, and exploitation of their environment. These personal factors give rise to and are then perpetuated by, social institutions which actively encourage oppression, pollution, resource depletion, poverty and military conflict.
• The Party therefore places both personal and political change at the heart of its response to the ecological crisis and is committed to creating a society in which individuals, through their ability to satisfy their basic needs more fully, are then able better to contribute to future sustainability. This principle is reflected in the radical Party agenda both for changes in values and lifestyles, and for reformed social, economic and political structures.
• The Party values the diversity of ways in which people relate to each other and the natural environment. It seeks a balance between a number of different processes which contribute to human well-being, rather than stressing one at the expense of all others. It refuses to treat any single value, whether freedom, wealth or equality, as a supreme criterion of political success. In an ecological society a wide range of lifestyle choices will be promoted as individuals and communities seek to establish the most appropriate means of implementing sustainability.
• The Party in effect shares with like minds the belief that:

“Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”