Gacheke Gachihi: 2012

To. Mathare residence, Comrades and Friends.

My name is Gacheke Gachihi and I am vying for the Mathare parliamentary seat on a Safina Party ticket.

I am convinced that as Pan- Africanist and my background as a human rights activist and social justice crusader coupled with the fact that I have been a long time resident of the constituency makes me the best candidate to serve the people of Mathare in dealing with the many complex social, economic, security and other challenges that they grapple with on a day to day basis.

Mathare, which is Constituency No. 290, has a population estimated at 500,000 and estimated voter population of 193, 416 by IEBC last constituency boundaries delimitation estimate and covers only 3 square kilometers. This makes it one of the most densely populated areas in political representation in the country at 64,472 people per square kilometre. It comprises 6 wards- Hospital, Mabatini, Huruma, Ngei, Mlango Kubwa and Kiamaiko.

Gacheke and Comrades, Press Confrence
Jeevanjee Gardens.

This constituency is ethnically very diverse with all the major tribes, religious groups and communities considering it home. In socio-economic and class terms, Mathare captures the skewed priorities and missed opportunities of all the national, local and regional governing authorities because of the high levels of poverty, unemployment, insecurity and poor infrastructure. In comparison to other parts of Nairobi County, it is overrepresented in terms of the number of slums and informal settlements. Youth unemployment hovers around 70% and it is therefore not surprising to hear reports of rampant crime, police harassment, extra-judicial killing, and other related social problems like drug and prostitution.

Underscoring all these socio-economic realities is the deafening failure of leadership at all levels. All politicians who have represented the people of Mathare have been self-serving tycoons who live outside the constituency and have no clue about the hardships that the voters of this constituency go through on a day to day basis. To them, the people of Mathare are only useful as a basket of voters to harvest every five years using the tried and tested populist tactics of demagoguery, voter bribery and tribal divide and rule tactics.

It is for the above reasons that I, Gacheke Gachihi have decided to step in. I am a resident of Huruma in Mathare. I am a registered voter in Mathare. I do not need to Google the problems of the people of Mathare on the internet because these are the problems I live within my home; these are the issues affecting my neighbors and the people we go to church with and I meet in the market every day. I do not need to be told about insecurity because I have been mugged on my way home. I do not need to be told about police harassment because I have been rounded up several times on flimsy reasons by cops seeking a bribe. I skip over the open sewers and dodge the flying toilets every night. I am part of the support networks of my friends and relatives who are living with HIV/AIDS. I know about the women who die during childbirth because some of them are my neighbors and relatives

But more than that, I am not just a passive spectator in the events unfolding in Mathare Constituency. As a long time member of the Bunge la Mwananchi social movement, I helped to spearhead the Unga Revolution campaign throughout Mathare, sensitizing and mobilizing ordinary youth, women and men to participate in the movement to bring down the price of maize meal and other basic foodstuffs to levels where ordinary low income Kenyans could afford them. I have been a whistle blower and part of Operation Firimbi to name and shame unscrupulous tycoons who grab public land; I have been a human rights defender protecting innocent youth targeted for extra-judicial killing by the shadowy death squads linked to the security forces; I have helped seek sanctuary for women fleeing from abusive and violent domestic relationship; in terms of peace building and conflict transformation I was part of the healing process in times of inter-ethnic conflict before, during and after the 2007-2008 post- election violence; I have used my networks in civil society and community based media and cyberspace to highlight and foreground the issues of the people of Mathare. I can claim credit as being the first person in Kenya to invite the newly installed Chief Justice of Kenya Dr. Willy Mutunga to a homecoming to a low income neighborhood where he was warmly embraced by the people I hope to represent in the 11^th parliament. Above all, I was one of the most tireless campaigners for the Kenya Constitution which was promulgated in 2010.

Walk Agaist Crime with Mathare Youth and Police.

It is not an accident that I consciously chose the Safina Party as my ticket to vie on. Safina was born during the heady days when the forces of reform were confronting the powerful elite of the Moi-KANU dictatorship. Our party leader, Paul Muite, our Chairman, MwalimuMati and our Secretary General Cyprian Nyamwamu are all recognized democrats, reformers and change agents in their own right and I belong to a party that has been in the forefront of fighting corruption, injustice and undemocratic practices.

In summary, I believe that the combination of my background, including my youth, political beliefs and party affiliation puts me at a vantage point to become the next MP for Mathare in 2013.

I propose to anchor my vision for the people of Mathare in the 2010 Constitution in providing alternative leadership that can cater for participatory collective decision making in the management of public resources under the auspices of devolved government and progressive legislation that will in turn anchor a range of comprehensive programmes interventions to jump start social transformation in Mathare Constituency.

Under my leadership after I become MP for Mathare, we will introduce community resource centers as social spaces for the youth to generate, incubate and implement new ideas and innovations. We will help forge a new identity through the development of music, the arts, theatre and sports. We will roll out village polytechnics and other tertiary training institutions to build the capacity of the young people to have transferable life and job skills that enable them to improve their livelihoods. We will agitate and lobby for better social infrastructure, improved, affordable and accessible housing, by creating housing cooperative Saccos in Mathare, With stakeholders and youth organize community-based policing and security arrangement, better health facilities and infrastructure. And return all grabbed public land in Mathare as provided by new land reform law, and address historical injustices

I will share more on my detailed vision, on Mathare 2020 Vision where I map out my proposals for the constituency between 2013 and 2020, to bring social transformation in Mathare.

In this regards a making humble request for your Moral political and financial support in this historic battle, between the forces against change in Mathare.

Warmest Regards