Oto's Address to the Rotaract Club of Nairobi 18th August 2011

18th August 2011
Effecting the Law; A call to action
Mr. President, Members of the Rotaract Club, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour to be invited to address such a gathering. You are well known for your resolve to action and helping where there is need. And we must all join hands in applause, in appreciation of what you have achieved for the less fortunate over a period of time.
Now, I was invited to give a quick back ground of what The Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign is all about. I will be quick and brief.
This is a Campaign that was initiated in Komarock Estate when we first hosted a Clean up Campaign where we were joined by the Children we support, their parents/guardians, the City Council employees and the Provincial Administration. We then made a letter to the Town Clerk requesting that we join hands and mobilize the whole of Nairobi into action.
This was achieved on the 18th September 2010 when His Worship the then Mayor of Nairobi Cllr Geoffrey Majiwa flagged off the first City Wide Clean up Campaign in Eastleigh in Nairobi. Since then, the City Council of Nairobi has hosted the Clean-up Campaigns every 3rd Saturday of the Month. We are happy to have made some positive contribution to this process.
In January 2011, having seen that it was possible, we decided to do The Monthly Nationwide Clean up Campaigns across all Kenya. We rolled the Campaign in Mombasa in February, in Eldoret in May, Kisii in June, Kisumu and Kakamega in July, and tomorrow, we are heading to Nyeri to roll out the same.
This has been an enriching Campaign for us. We have in the process seen the resolve of Kenyans in supporting us and ensuring that it is done. The only bit that we have found wanting is how the law is being applied to ensure that we have a Clean neighbourhood.
In places like Califonia, if you litter and get arrested, you are slapped with a fine of USD 1,000. In other places and Towns, the fines are such heavy that you will think twice. But in Kenya, and across all our Towns, littering and depositing garbage by the next corner is a prime time occupation, and it seems to pay.
No one has been arrested for littering and depositing garbage in our neighbourhoods. And today, we must ask the hard questions. Do you think we will solve this problem of garbage everywhere you turn if we do not enforce the law?
We must all join hands and demand that the law enforcement agencies, be they the police, the Council askaris or the neighbourhood vigilantes, we must all join hands and ensure that all those who litter and deposit garbage in our neighbourhoods are arrested and charged appropriately. The courts must then hand in heavy penalties that will act as deterrent to all others who would like to do the same.
In the same vein, we must today demand that all the Councils across Kenya must ensure that we have demarcated places in our neighbourhoods where the waste that we generate are deposited awaiting being carted away to the Dump Sites.
Now, this will call fo some clear resolve. We must all walk the talk and work hand in hand with the various councils as strategic partners in solving this garbage menace. It is doable and we can do it.
In mobilizing The Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign, we have faced Resources Mobilization Challenges;

Financial Resource Mobilization; This has been a serious handicap to the Campaign. We have largely depended on the goodwill of Friends of KCDN, and with these hard times, Friends tend to wear off. We want to invite your support with this to ensure that we have a sustained Campaign
Human Resource Mobilization; Again, this has been a serious issue. We have many groups that are willing to take part. But, they must be mobilized and sensitized on what we are facing. This needs a lot of financial input, and we want to work with willing partners to surmount this.
Institutional Resource Mobilization; Apart from the Councils and the various Provincial Administration Officers who join us in the Monthly Campaigns, we have not seen any Institution which have come out to join in the Campaign. We are desirous of Institutions stepping forward and declaring that as part of their Corporate Social responsibilities, they will be joining in The Monthly Nationwide Clean up Campaign.
In short, we must start respecting our laws and respecting ourselves. We must stop dumping garbage at every corner. We must stop throwing litter as we walk and as we drive. And, we must enforce the law.
Lastly, I want to invite your partnership to this campaign. It is worth joining with Partners who will ensure that the resources needed for the Campaign are sourced. It is worth joining with Partners who will ensure that they physically come out and move with us to the trenches. And it is worth joining hands with Partners who believe that a Clean Kenya is possible.
We want to invite you to follow The Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign vide;

http://www.kcdnkenya.org/
http://kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com/
Monthly Nationwide Clean Up Campaign on Facebook.

Many thanks once more.
God Bless you all. God Bless KCDN and God bless Kenya. This is a campaign for Kenya by Kenyans. Let us make it big......
If it is to be, it is up to me. A Clean Kenya Starts With me. A Peaceful Kenya is my Responsibility.

Disclaimer; The Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign is about us Kenyans. It involves all Kenyans from the various regions, religious persuasions, political thinking and we do not discriminate against any Kenyans nor any region.

Odhiambo T Oketch

Environmental stewardship towards sustainable development

A presentation by Odhiambo T Oketch during the Gala Night for Daystar University Environmental Initiative Club on 1^st April 2011.

1^st April 2011

Last year, the Government headed to Mau Forest to start what the Rt Hon Prime Minister said was going to be the beginning of a campaign that was going to see us restoring our forest cover to 10% in 10 years.
This indeed took place and today, 15 Months down the line, what can we place our hands on as tangible evidence that indeed we have planted so many Trees all across Kenya? I was hence very excited when I was invited to come and talk about ‘Environmental stewardship towards sustainable development’. In approaching this topic, there are 6 very cardinal issues that we ought to address in our efforts at environmental stewardship, namely;
1] Environmental education; in our mobilization process, we are encouraging the youth and their parents to each become personally responsible for our environment. We must each plant a tree and attend to it. We must each keep clean our water points and stop throwing garbage into the streams. This clogs the rivers and the water points. This is a serious campaign that needs all of us. Let us join hands and in the process, not only focus on Mau, but our immediate environments, our neighbourhoods.
2] Vanishing wetlands; we all know that rain has not been as consistent as it was some times back. This has led to drying up of wetlands. There has also been that threat from invasion by man. What is our collective responsibility in galvanizing the populace to conserving and preserving our wetlands. It is our responsibility to impart information to the youth and the parents in this regard.
3] Flimsy plastic bags; this is the biggest menace affecting our environment. What then is our role in making sure that we dispose of plastic in a manner that becomes environmentally friendly? We must do all that it takes to make the all needed difference. The government also needs to come up with a clear policy on manufacture of flimsy plastic bags. In the same vein, the government must also enforce rules on disposal of such paper. Can we attach instant fines to all those caught in the act of degrading our environment?

Chairmen in action; Mr. Joel Kwemei of Dayster University Environmental Initiative Club and Mr. Okoth Peter of Kenyatta University Environment Club waiting for transport to Ngong Hills at Uhuru Park on 2nd April 2011

4] Clearing of vegetation on road reserves; it must be our responsibility to plant and water trees along road reserves. In the East of Nairobi we have concrete jungles competing for all space. In an estate like Komarock, the road sides are all tarmac and it becomes very tricky planting trees. But it is our responsibility as Kenyans to ensure that we plant trees along the roads and in our compounds. This is the drive that we are carrying on this year and we call upon all people of goodwill to join us in this exercise. Let us all make it our responsibility. And at KCDN, we are sensitizing both the youth and our parents on this need.
5] Rain water harvesting; Kenya has been procrastinating with this for ever. Just after Independence, we used to have lots of rain. Compared with the trends now, we could predict with certainty when the rains would fall. This calls to mind our planning capacity. It is sad to note that Masinga Dam was built in 1942 and has served Nairobi and the Metropolis with distinction till now. If the government put in some little planning, we would have had various methods of water harvesting and storage. Isn’t it time we put pressure on our government to become serious with planning. We can do it, so let us do it.
6] Conservation of the 5 water towers; for 46 years now, little effort has been put into conserving the water towers by the government. We all know how Mau Forest Complex was given out to politically correct individuals and how that has led to massive rape of the water catchment area. We all know that when Aberdare Ranges was under threat from the government, it was the private sector that came up with a road map to fence the forest and guard against government instigated encroachment. We must all loud Mr. Wilfred Kiboro, formerly the CEO at Nation Media Group for doing a sterling job in this. Kenyans must all join and help guard against government instigated encroachments into the 5 water towers namely; Mau Forest Complex, Aberdare Ranges, Mt Kenya, Cherengani Hills and Mt Elgon.
We all know that when it comes to environmental destruction, the government has been in the front line. We have forest guards employed by the relevant ministries to guard our forest, yet, the worst forest destructions have been supervised by these people who were meant to safe guard the same forests.
All is not lost at least. If we put our act together now, we can help give life to our children. If we enjoin our children in environmental education now, we will create a future that will be green. If we join hands with the relevant ministries and put them to task, become partners in the process, our guards will not destroy our future any more.
This is why we enjoin Kenyans and the people of the world in also appealing to the Right Hon Prime Minister and the President to lead from the front and help mobilize the people of Kenya through initiatives such as Kazi Kwa Vijana in playing a greater role in creating environmental awareness and conservation. The President should be in the frontline in this effort.                                                                                                        The Kazi Kwa Vijana Initiative if well handled can clean the Nairobi River and help make Nairobi green again. And this is where KCDN comes in. And we have invited Friends of KCDN  to be joining us every 4^th Saturday of the Month in cleaning our immediate neighbourhoods all across Kenya under the auspices of the Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign.
We owe this to our children.A Clean Kenya Starts With Me.
Peace and blessings. God bless you, God bless Daystar and God Bless Kenya.

Odhiambo T Oketch,
CEO KCDN Nairobi,
Tel; 0724 365 557, 0735 529 126,