Home » Media Centre » Blogs » Gearing up for 2007 elections
Just in case you thought it wasn't possible to have more "all politics all the time" in Kenya, there is no doubt that 2007 will represent a new high-mark as far as politiking in Kenya goes. Beyond the usual jostling for power that we've become accustomed to with the current crop of politicians and political parties, there are attempts to encourage "new faces" to run for parliament and to get the idea of a "third force" or "alternative force" to emerge and take hold.
For instance, the advertisement on a workshop for new 2007 civic and parliamentary aspirants appeared in the papers this week and we are working to see whether we can cover the event for our readers.
Note: a quick Google search for Pace International Kenya and the Martin Luther King Foundation Africa revealed no hits.
Other recent initiatives around inspiring young/new 2007 aspirants include:
1. Youth for leadership 2007 (features profiles of aspirants as well)
2. A new party called Wazalendo (site seems to be down though).
3. The Coalition of Young Kenyan Voters - just seen a brief mention in the press.
We will try and do our best to cover these initiatives as they crop up and if there is enough interest, perhaps offer profiles of aspiring candidates. If you have any recommendations regarding what kind of coverage you'd like to see in 2007, please drop us a line.
AOB: Mzalendo Housekeeping News
1. Answers to questions asked in Parliament: We have now started including answers to questions asked in Parliament. This gives you an opportunity to assess not just MP participation, but also the Government's participation in Parliament. It will take us a while to catch up completely so please bear with us.
2. Abuse of the comment facility: While the majority of the commenters are using the comment facility responsibly, we are experiencing persistent cases of abuse, particularly in the case of the one MP who has chosen to respond to his constituent's questions. We are concerned that this kind of behavior will discourage / is discouraging MP's from taking Mzalendo seriously and from being willing to engage with their constituents. Our attempts to minimize abuse by deleting inappropriate comments seem to have had a minimal effect with certain individuals. We are therefore going to resort to other more draconian measures, including blocking IP addresses, if we have to and would like to remind folks who leave their comments to please avoid engaging in the same kind of petty and immature behavior that often disgusts you when it comes from you political representatives.
3. Standing orders: You can now easily access the standing orders from the front page.
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