Kalua party petitions IEBC over campaign posters
The Green Thinking Action Party (GTAP) has petitioned the electoral agency to formulate guidelines for politicians putting up campaign posters without regard for the environment and imposing penalties on perpetrators in a bid to enhance environmental conservation.
GTAP Party leader Dr. Isaack Kalua Green on Wednesday disclosed that politicians were indulging in haphazard marketing strategies through campaign posters in full disregard to a clean and healthy environment ahead of the August 9 elections.
This follows an earlier proposal by National Environment Management Authority (Nema) to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to develop clear policies on political marketing to check the random placement of campaign posters.
Nema had written to IEBC to urgently develop clear safeguards that will either reduce the use of posters that lead to littering or have mechanisms in place that will ensure that the posters are promptly and effectively removed from the environment and properly disposed of at the conclusion of the electoral campaigns.
Productive engagement
“Looking forward to a more productive engagement on this matter to ensure a clean and healthy environment for all, which is also a Constitutional provision (Article 4),” said Nema Director-General Mamo Boru Mamo in his letter to IEBC Chairman Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
Dr. Kalua, the GTAP party leader on Wednesday said the move by Nema was welcome, adding that the authority’s circular to IEBC was spot on.
“As a party, we call upon IEBC to impose a fee for cleaning up the environment after the elections. This should be included in the fees paid to the commission by aspirants for various positions,” Dr. Kalua said.
You realize that after elections, he said, posters of various aspirants do exist, some running for decades, and polluting the environment in different ways.
“Some deface institutional facilities and highways hence the need to regulate this. Our suggestion as a party is to create this discussion as early as now because unless we deal with this now, a clean, healthy environment will remain a pipe dream,” said Dr. Kalua.
Stringent measures
He called for stringent measures by IEBC on how to clean up the environment in two weeks or less on matters of posters to be cleaned out of the environment immediately after the elections so that “we end up having a clean environment.”
“This is important. We have also seen and we identify ourselves with Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) the defacing of national highway facilities and even private properties which should not be the case,” he said, adding that as the clock ticks towards the elections, even the multi-billion shillings Expressway in Nairobi was under threat of the campaign posters.
Dr. Kalua called on political aspirants to devise other means to market themselves to the electorate in a more “environmentally friendly manner.”
“Let us deal with issues of pollution during campaigns now, not tomorrow, not when it is too late. We cannot wait until when things are bad and we start overreacting,” he said.
“Our intention as a party is to move from plan to action, we have planned so much for too long, and right now is the time to deal with the issues and connect the issues with the people on the ground so that they can understand and speak their language.”
Dr. Kalua said GTAP seeks to introduce new ideas into the country’s politics with a bias for environmental conservation.
Competent leaders
The party leader who is also the founder of the Green Africa Foundation is celebrated for his passion for the environment, which saw him acquire the name ‘Green,’ which is now part of his official identity.
He revealed that whereas the party will not produce a presidential candidate in the August election, it seeks to groom and develop competent leaders who will provide decent choices for Kenyans across the country.
“Since we are not producing a presidential candidate in this election, we want to nurture better leaders from the MCAs, MPs, Women Reps, Senators, and Governors.
“Your president could be…the area MCA, the MP, or the Women’s Rep – the leader closest to you with the keys to unlocking the solutions to your needs,” Dr. Kalua said.
“However, many Kenyans continue to live in despair in spite of the constitution that was passed to bring essential services to our people. We want to change that, by restoring the integrity of service delivery to the citizens of our people.
GTAP, he noted, will launch and execute a Green Scorecard to hold the government accountable for every decision and every expenditure incurred on behalf of Kenyans across all government functions and to promote access to affordable tools of justice.
Carbon emissions
GTAP, he says, seeks to remodel Nairobi and Kenya’s cities – Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru as green cities, with near-zero carbon emissions in the transport and energy sectors.
He pointed out that GTAP will also ensure a quality environment; clean air, clean water, clean cities, and neighborhoods, restore the dignity of households, enhance food sovereignty through universal access to three nutritious meals a day.
“The world today is shifting gears away from traditional industrialization to a green industrial revolution. Kenya has a unique opportunity to play a leadership role in this new world order.
“The world has entrusted our beloved nation with environmental stewardship by bestowing the headquarters of UNEP and the United National Habitat to our beloved city of Nairobi.
“We need to integrate biofuels into our energy ecosystem. It’s time for Kenya to become a global leader in biofuel integration. The Green economy prioritizes the unemployed and underemployed because they are the ones who are living on the current economy’s margins. G-TAP believes that economic productivity and environmental conservation are not mutually exclusive,” he said.
Source: Nation.Africa