from odhiambo okecth
We had this Supplement on page 31 of the Standard on Sunday today. Many thanks to the Friends of KCDN who supported us with this.
Kindly share.
Oto
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KCDN SUPPLEMENT.pdf
A community’s participation in their every
day lives has been touted in different forums as
the way forward and has seen many community
based organisations come up to advocate for
different agenda ranging from socio-political to
economic issues. One such body The Komarocks
Community Development Network (KCDN)
was conceptualised in 2005 and registered as
a Self Help Group in the same year, and has
over time embodied the essence of community
participation in the nation’s march towards
vision 2030. Their activities have ranged from
cleanup campaigns to issues of anti-corruption
advocacy and peace and reconciliation.
According to Odhiambo T Oketch, Chief Executive
Of?cer of KCDN Nairobi and the Nationwide
Coordinator for the Monthly Nationwide Clean-
up Campaign, the organisation evolves around
three core pillars namely, environmental
management, peace building and child support.
In many parts of the country different bodies,
mainly the local authorities have struggled over
time to overcome the questions of cleanliness
in their jurisdictions with varying degrees of
success. KCDN has taken to the task of working
towards his noble objective and effectively
moved from the perception that only the local
authorities and the National Environment
Management Authority is responsible for the
well being of the environment we live in. Since
its launch, KCDN has worked tirelessly to ensure
a clean Kenya. At the same time they have
embraced a wide mandate including that of
peace and reconciliation since the happenings of
2007/2008. Working under the tagline “If it is to
be, it is up to me. A Clean Kenya Starts With me”
the organisation has moved from the con?nes
of its name to take its activities to other parts
of the country outside Nairobi. “We created
partnerships all across Kenya with the approval
of the relevant Civil Societies to enable us drive
our campaign all over the country,” states their
pro?le.
KCDN has since partnered with different
bodies and organisations in these endeavours.
“With strategic support from Akiba Uhaki
Foundation, we have grown in strength and
stature. The ?rst support we got from AUF was
when we were hosting the second KCDN Peace
Run/Walk in Komarock in June of 2009. This was
a function that was well attended and it indeed
captured the essence of Peace Building, National
Healing and Reconciliation,” says Oketch.
There are other partners who have worked
with KCDN in our various rolls and special
mention must be made of the City Council of
Nairobi, Municipal Council of Mombasa, County
Council of Wareng, Municipal Council of Eldoret,
A Better World, Mugumo Communications Ltd,
Total Kenya Ltd, Safaricom Ltd, Barclays Bank
Haille Sellassie Avenue Branch, Taxplus Consult
Ltd, Grain Bulk Handlers Ltd, SGS Kenya Ltd,
Capital Airlines Ltd, Express Connections Ltd,
Green Fingers International, Mini Bakeries
[Nairobi] Ltd amongst others.
In 2010, KCDN mobilised for the Monthly
Nationwide Clean-up Campaign and got the
added boost of having the City Council of Nairobi
to join in the City-wide Cleanup Campaign which
was launched by His Worship the Mayor of
Nairobi in a well attended Clean-up Campaign in
Eastleigh on September 18, 2010. This was the
?rst of an event that has continued to grow in
stature, and has since been dubbed the Monthly
Nationwide Clean-up Campaign in Kenya.
The organisation then organized the Great
Nairobi Walk against Corruption in October 2010
in partnership with the Kenya Anti Corruption
Commission, Transparency International, the
Provincial Administration, the City Council of
Nairobi, Mugumo Communications Ltd and other
partners, a pointer to its holistic approach to the
fact that a greater involvement of Community
Based Organisations is part of what it takes to
turn the country’s socio-economic well being
around and to the advocacy that comes with the
community’s involvement ?rst hand with issues
that involve them.
The Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign
was launched in January 2011 along Kibera
Drive on 22nd January 2011 followed by the
of?cial Launch of the Campaign in Mombasa by
Hon Amazon Kingi, the Minister for Fisheries
Development who stood in for the Rt Hon Prime
Minister Raila Odinga. This, KCDN says, is one
way of adding value to the lives of Kenyans. “It is
our intention now to build on partnerships that
would add value as we drive the concept of the
clean-up campaign in Kenya under the banner
of the Monthly Nationwide Clean-up Campaign”,
says Oketch.
He points out that KCDN partners with
organisations and people in the different areas
they conduct their activities. Earlier this month,
KCDN held a clean up in Huruma Estate in
Eldoret and plans to move to Kisii and Kisumu in
June and Western Kenya in July.