Walter Menya
11 November 2009
Nairobi — At least five African countries have shown interest in emulating Kenya's self assessment programme.
The value system developed by the Uungwana Initiative Campaign unveiled about two weeks ago has attracted regional members of the East African Community, the East African Business Council and West African states Nigeria and Benin.
Addressing a meeting with the Media Owners Association at a breakfast meeting Wednesday, Uungwana Team Leader Ken Njiru, however, said the expansion of the initiative beyond the borders will largely depend on its success locally.
"We have presented the initiative to a number of leaders within east Africa. As usual, they are excited but they want to see how it performs here in Kenya," Mr Njiru said.
The initiative was launched as a response to the deteriorating societal norms, blamed especially on the post-election violence of early 2008, among other ills.
It is based on two continuums -- uungwana (civility) and its opposite, ushenzi (discourtesy).
"Uungwana is something we can do collectively to change the world," Mr Njiru said.
The initiative bases its strength on a transformed individual who then carries the new value system to the society and beyond to create a cohesive Kenyan nation.
The initiative argues that past attempts to heal the country have concentrated on addressing the topical and acute symptoms that have manifested themselves in the form of land allocation or lack of it, poverty, historical injustices, the Constitution and corruption.
However, in attempting to solve these problems, the nation has portrayed a lack of honesty to accept the situation as it is, and the courage to address the problems. This disorder is the ushenzi that corrupts Kenyans' minds.
Mr Njiru also observed that the EAC integration has been slow to attain because of mistrust among the member states.
MOA chairman Linus Gitahi called on every citizen to evaluate the self without apportioning blame.
"We should ask ourselves what it is we are doing as individuals to make the difference we so desire," Mr Gitahi told the members of the association.
The Uungwana Initiative will, through its mechanisms, provide a real and sustainable solution for the transformation of the Kenyan society.
The campaign is one that hopes to seize the moment to call every individual to action "to reach within and think better, speak better and act better. We believe that this is when the culture of civility and uprightness can evolve and prevail, and constitutionalism be guaranteed."
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