The workshop began with introduction of all present; K4C team members, youth leaders and the Boda boda operators. Facilitators then took the floor to enlighten the participants on various issues regarding getting out to vote peacefully on the day of referendum.
Morning sessions
The first facilitator was David Ndolo. He made a presentation about Kenyan’s for Change. He informed participants that K4C is an organization founded to champion reforms in different spheres of society- socially, politically and economically. Participants were informed that K4C is established not only in Kenya, but also in other countries. Ndolo further informed the gathering that Kenyans for Change seeks to diligently pursue the Kenyan Dream; a free Kenya where every citizen is entitled to equal opportunity to thrive regardless of gender, religion, age or tribal origin. Besides the talk about K4C, participants were also challenged to think, act and promote peace in all they do. Wallace Kananda told them that peace is a personal decision and is dependent on everybody. It begins with the individual person. He urged the youth to be proactive and come up with initiatives to enable them to constructively engage in national processes. Negative ethnicity, he said, is the root of an unstable society and such is bound to affect the youth negatively. It is therefore in their personal interest to promote peaceful activities and avoid conflict. Still building and sustaining momentum, Jane Munga elaborately explained to the young people gathered that voting is their constitutional right and they should be informed to make the right choices. She added that voting is one way through which citizens are heard and this right is inalienable and cannot be taken away from them. She therefore urged the youth to get out and vote on the referendum day.
Official opening
This session was followed by the official opening of the workshop by the Project lead – Mark Matunga. While making his remarks, Matunga demonstrated to the participants that it pays to be peaceful and visionary. He said that youth have graduated from engaging at the periphery to taking the lead role in championing for change in the manner in which things are done in society. In addition, he explained that world over, change has always been caused by informed masses. And the Boda boda operators form part of this critical mass of change agents. He urged participants to organize themselves and start engaging in productive activities to make their lives and society better.
Mid-morning sessions
This session was followed by a talk on the proposed constitution. This session was moderated by Morris Kaburu, who took participants through the journey of constitution-making in Kenya. He informed participants that the first attempt at reviewing the constitution was made in the early
1990’s with calls for the introduction of a multi-party system. Kaburu said that there was demand for a comprehensive reform of the constitution before the General elections of 1992.Several other attempts were made to try and deliver a new constitution to Kenyans. He then took members through the different sections of the constitution and by the time this session was coming to an end, participants were very eager to ask questions, share their fears and seek clarification; as witnessed during the question and answer time.
A presentation about technology was picked up successively from the constitution talk. This session was about technology and how it relates to the Boda boda operators in their quest for a better life. They were taken through this session by Charles sakari, an I.T expert. He gave them the advantages of new technology and the emerging social media i.e faster and simplified communication, reduced distance, wider reach and the fact that it helps to save time. In spite of that, he urged the youth to explore the sleeping giant because it has the potential of transforming their lives in a big way. However, he warned them against hate speech through modes such as SMS, email, Facebook and mobile. He emphasized that such media should be used constructively to promote peace and enhance community work. This presentation was followed by question and answer session which was moderated by Cheryl Abedi and Caren Wakoli and most of the questions were about the proposed constitution and about the activities and structures of Kenyans for Change, and how the participants can plug in.
Afternoon session
The afternoon session, on the other hand, was very interactive and most of the engagement in terms of contributions emanated from the participants. This is due to the fact that this session was focused on discussing issues to do with the planned processions and the logistics involved in this; hence the need to listen to the youth leaders and Boda boda operators from the different constituencies in Nairobi. It was clear that a peaceful process is desired because after Kenyans cast their referendum vote, life must go on uninterrupted.