PEDA'S HISTORY

Tired with the continuous recycling of discredited political leaders, PEDA was formed with the intention of revolutionizing party politics and attracting principled, visionary and honest leaders who would be evaluated by party members on the basis of character (integrity & servant hood), vision and leadership ability.

This journey started five years ago on March 26th 2004 when we applied for registration of our party. It was a painful and frustrating struggle as depicted in newspaper articles (Nation & Standard) posted here. Late 2006 as we were in the process of taking the matter to court, the registrar of societies wrote to our lawyers that our registration certificate had been posted to our postal address by registered mail. We did not receive it and on inquiry, they ‘discovered’ it was allegedly sent by regular mail, not registered as previously stated. When we applied for a certified copy, our file went missing and only turned up a year later when we finally received our certificate 4 years, 1 Month and 18 days after application. This is unlike well connected individuals who registered parties like NARC Kenya, ODM Kenya, New KANU, PPP etc. in record time

Despite all that injustice, we stuck to our vision because we believed that at that critical juncture in the history of our beloved country Kenya, we needed ordinary Kenyans who are brave enough to stand up and offer fresh alternative leadership-a clear departure from the recycling of tainted leaders that we were seeing. We knew that would not be an easy undertaking as the current political space is dominated by people who have amassed wealth over the years notwithstanding the dubious and sometimes criminal ways they have used to do it. We had come too far and endured too much to give up at that point.

As of now, we intend to realize our vision by;

1. Popularizing party policies and seeking input from prospective members as to how we can achieve the same.
2. Recruiting members (Registration fee is Ksh 150 i.e. Ksh 30 membership and Ksh 10 monthly contribution payable for the whole year. Prospective members in a position to contribute over and above the registration fee are highly welcome).
3. Meet and network with prospective members who have ambitions to seek elective office in the next general elections.

We do not have all the answers nor do we have the funds or space to avail our full and detailed manifesto but through your input and financial contribution, we hope to come up with a comprehensive manifesto. What we have attempted to do in the limited space we have is to give you a picture of what we are thinking of.

Like us, we know you desire change but change will not come out of thin air. Our resources are limited but unity and a clear focus will be our strength. We are thus appealing to those who want to support us or wish to be party members to join our group on facebook, spread word about us among your friends and email us for more effective networking.

Thank you for taking time to read what we had to say, spread the word, pray for us, support us and do give us your feedback.

God bless you,
Steve Biko Oyugi,
Party Chairman.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

PEDA’S INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICE PROVISION SCHEDULE

1. Reclaiming depleted forests and water catchment areas, planting of trees, nature reserves and construction of modern renewable waste dump sites in all local authorities.

2. Construction of dams, water purification plants and extension of water and sewerage systems to all local authorities.

3. Construction of a high speed railway network to all local authorities to facilitate economical transportation of goods and passengers to all parts of Kenya. Nairobi the capital city should be at most two hours away from any local authority to encourage settlement away from crowded towns.

4. Provision of electricity, cooking gas and fuel supply systems to all local authorities.

5. Extension of internet (I C T) infrastructure network to all local authorities

6. Construction of tertiary education institutions in all local authorities

7. Provision of serviced land (piped water and sewerage system, electricity and roads) for construction of houses in all local authorities.

8. Construction of police stations and provincial administration units in all local authorities.

9. Construction of Judicial facilities in all local authorities and rehabilitation/construction of prison facilities.

10. Construction of government and civic authority offices, related facilities and CBD (Central Business District) roads.

11. Construction of local authority roads and provision of mass public transport service in all local authorities

12. Countrywide construction of health facilities, primary and secondary schools using C D F, LATF accounts and money collected from school fees.

13. Construction of road network linking all local authorities. Construction of airstrips and airports in all local authorities

14. Construction of sports, arts and cultural facilities in all local authorities.

15. A O B.

POLICY HIGHLIGHTS

1. M P’s salaries
M P’s pay will be reduced from the current 0.8 million a month to a maximum of Ksh 400,000 which will be subject to taxation.

2. Lean Cabinet

Unlike the current cabinet which is the largest since independence and has 42 ministers, 52 assistant ministers – total 94, a PEDA government will have a maximum of 18 ministries with the total number of ministers and assistants being 36. The ministries will be as follows;

1. Attorney general
2. Planning & finance
3. Education & cultural affairs
4. Water, Environment & natural resources
5. Local government
6. Agriculture, livestock & fisheries
7. Co-operatives, trade & industry
8. Tourism & wildlife
9. Labour & human resource development
10. Health
11. Roads & Public works
12. Energy
13. Lands & housing
14. Defence, Internal security & provincial administration
15. Transport & I C T (Information & Communication Technology)
16. Home affairs
17. Sports
18. Foreign affairs

3. Military & Internal security

A typical Kenyan is more at risk from internal risks (thugs, tribal clashes & terrorism) than from external aggression by a foreign country. We have not fought a serious war since independence (not that we want to) and there is little likelihood of that happening in the near future. It does not make economic to continue maintaining a heavily staffed, salaried and equipped military. Current budgetary allocations to the military is higher than what is given to the police yet the police do more work and their services are more critical to uplifting our economy.

A PEDA government will enhance internal security by allocating more funds to the police for staff and equipment than the military. To cut costs and utilize resources to the maximum, all new recruits will undergo military and police training. Upon graduation, they will serve as police officers and some will revert to the military in the event that Kenya is involved in war. This will serve a dual purpose of increasing the number of policemen who are able to multi-task.

On a volunteer basis, already serving military men willing to work in the police force will also be retrained and assimilated in the police force.


4. Kenya’s true history

We will revise our history books to reflect historical injustices and human rights abuses currently omitted from books used in primary and secondary schools. Also the gallant roles played by advocates of multi party and the enormous personal sacrifice they had to pay to ensure a more democratic society is not mentioned. Since truth is not taught, perpetrators of past human rights abuse have no shame advancing themselves as democrats and defenders of the oppressed.

5. Transparency and accountability

All public servants will declare their wealth and this information will be accessible to the public. A freedom of information act will be passed to ensure the public have access to all government information. This will limit corruption. An independent staff audit for the entire civil service will be done to weed out unqualified personnel who may have been employed through corruption, tribalism or nepotism.

6. Science & Technology

Scientific innovations resulting in products that have a global demand have led to rapid developments in countries like U S A, Germany, Japan, India, Korea etc. In Kenya, we have talented individuals who are capable of coming up with new inventions but what has been lacking is funding for research and development. This is evident in the annual secondary school’s science congress and scientific exhibitions in our colleges and universities. A PEDA government will set up a 1 billion research and development fund. Annual science fairs open to all will be held and the top 100 inventions with a likely hood of producing usable products and in the process create employment, will receive a grant of Ksh 10 million each. Inventors will be assisted to solicit additional funds from investors and banks.

7. Film Development Fund

The film industry has the potential to create many employment opportunities as the necessary talent is available. A film development fund worth Ksh 50 million will be set up. After a transparent selection process, 10 writers/directors will each be given a grant of Ksh 5 million to enable them produce low budget films.

8. Home ownership/slums eradication

Concentration of resources in major towns has led to rural urban migration leading to growth of slums. The government’s slum upgrading program is not sustainable since it does not address the main factor of slum growth which is lack of jobs or low paying jobs. Infrastructure development (piped water, electricity and roads) in local authorities countrywide would have the twin effect of creating employment opportunities in rural areas thus reversing rural urban migration, provide serviced land which will encourage building of houses, reduce population density in major towns in the process bringing down cost of land and opening former slum areas, sparsely populated estates as found in Eastlands for development of high rise flats. Introduction of high speed trains (most travel at 250 Kph, the highest recorded being 400 Kph) initially to outlying towns like Naivasha, Gilgil, Tala, Ruiru, Thika, Kiambu, Kiserian Ngong, etc and to the rest of the country eventually will ensure that Nairobi is at most two hours away from all town in the process encouraging settlement in areas where land is cheaper thus decongesting Nairobi and other major towns. Majority of middle class Kenyans can afford the actual construction costs or access funds for building homes. What hinders them is scarcity of serviced land. This policy would create massive mass employment in the construction industry from which low-income workers will be able to afford decent houses through long term mortgage transferable to their children, eradicating slums in the process.

9. Higher education.

University education is turning out to be a preserve of the rich as every year, the cut off points for competitive courses like Medicine, pharmacy, law, engineering etc. are raised to limit those qualified. Space is then created for parallel students who have the ability to pay higher fees than regular students. This has given rise to cases where parallel students with grades like C+ can study medicine while regular students with grades as high as A- are locked out allegedly due to lack of space to accommodate them.

A recent media report highlighted a case where a senior lecturer in the university of Nairobi intervened for his daughter to pursue medicine in the regular program even though she missed out on the cut off points PEDA has no problem with parallel students with ability to pay the high fees for the courses they desire but our government should ensure that all students who sit for KCSE will get loans from HELB to pursue their desired careers not only in universities but also colleges. Adequate funding will be availed to universities (including construction of new ones) to increase their capacity to admit all students who score C+ and above to pursue the courses they desire and have qualified for.

PARTY ELECTIONS

There are currently 3 interim officials of the party, i.e. chairman, treasurer and organizing secretary. Elections for party officials will be held as soon as the party has sizeable membership and funds for that exercise are available. In that regard, the party structure is as follows

NATIONAL OFFICIALS

Chairperson, Deputy chairperson, Secretary general, Deputy secretary general, Treasurer, Deputy treasurer, National organizing secretary, Deputy organizing secretary, Youth representative, Deputy youth representative, Women’s representative, Deputy women’s representative, Provincial representatives (1 in each province), Deputy provincial representative (1 in each province). Total 28

BRANCH OFFICIALS

Each constituency shall have a branch executive committee which shall consist of the following elected officials. The chairperson, deputy chairperson, organizing secretary, deputy organizing secretary, treasurer, deputy treasurer, women affairs leader, deputy women affairs leader, youth affairs leader and deputy youth affairs leader. Total 10

SUB BRANCH OFFICIALS

Each ward shall have a sub-branch executive committee which shall consist of the same elected officials as found at the branch level. Total 10

CORE OBJECTIVES

1. To set up a lean, cost effective and efficient civil service, staffed by qualified professionals with adequate experience who have been selected through a competitive and transparent process that is not discriminative to any Kenyan citizen and is sensitive to our ethnic diversity/cohesion.

2. End corruption, tribalism and nepotism

3. Provision of adequate internal security to all citizens

4. Equal access to water and sanitation for all citizens

5. Equal access to justice for all citizens

6. Equal access to energy for all citizens

7. Equal access to affordable healthcare for all citizens

8. Equal access to affordable education for all citizens

9. Equitable development of physical infrastructure

10. Reverse rural urban migration by creating a suitable environment for and support all job creation initiatives especially in rural areas.

Patriotic Economic Democratic Alliance

P O Box 16668-00100, G P O

Email: pedakenya@yahoo.com

www.peda.blogspot.com

Vision: To realize a just society

Mission: To enhance justice, democracy, human & economic rights for all

Slogan: Economy & Justice, Uchumi Na Haki

Motto: Giving wings to your dreams

Ideology: Pragmatism – finding solutions

15^th May 2008