21.0 SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

21.1 Consumers in Development

The DP Government, cognizant of the importance of the consumers and the role of consumer organisations shall promote the development of the latter. In this regard the Government shall develop an enabling environment for consumer organisations to play rightful role to ensure consumers get quality, safe and fairly priced goods and services. In particular the DP Government shall give priority to food safety and packaging; professional services; environment; sanitation; advertising; energy; Parliament; water; health; education; building and construction among others. This is because, although Kenya has fairly developed laws and regulations on standards of services, it suffers from poor implementation and enforcement and lack of strong consumer organisations that are expected to oversee social and psychological satisfaction of Kenyans. Constraints encountered in the implementation of safety laws and regulations include inadequate skills and human resource, inadequate testing equipment, lack of testing for stakeholders, poor and inadequate capacity of Safety implementing agencies including: Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Fisheries and Inspectorate(DFI), Horticultural Development Authority(HCDA), Pest Control Products Board (PCPB). In order that we guarantee quality and safe products especially, foodstuffs, and common merchandise, DP Government will implement the following measures:

1. Develop a National safety policy to protect consumers from poor and low standards of goods and services

2. Enforce safety laws and regulations

3. Encourage the formation of a strong consumer organisation

4. Build capacity of the Kenya Bureau of Standards and, KEPHIS the Department of Veterinary Services, Department of Public Health and the Department of Fisheries and Inspectorate, Horticultural Development Authority, Pest Control Products Board(PCPB) and other institutions dealing with food safety

5. Establish communication mechanisms between public and private sector on food safety matters

6. Enhance the sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

21.2 Religious Organisations

The Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) have played and continue to play a vital role in enhancing the spiritual well being of our people. They are the custodians of morals and values of the society and their role in instilling discipline and responsibility are crucial for family life and decent living. Their role in provision of education, health facilities, and the fight against HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, drug abuse and other social problems is well appreciated.

However a cursory glance at the Kenyan society today indicates that the Kenyan communities are in a state of flux in their normal lives. Several occurrences in the recent past(land clashes, drug trafficking and tribal based politics) indicate that some norms that held Kenya society together are either being put in serious moral question or are being abandoned all together. The DP Government believes that religious organisations should continue playing an important role in restoring moral decency in our Country. The Kenyan society is largely religious and God fearing.

The DP Government further believes positive religious ethos is important in the process of development. It also believes that the FBOs have a lot to play in promoting good political leadership and governance. The DP Government however notes with concern the moral decay of our society. Inorder to improve the spiritual, social, and economic well being of our nation, the DP Government vows to:

1. Work in consultation with all religious organisations in an effort to restore and sustain moral probity, guarantee peace, unity, harmony and peaceful coexistence among our people

2. Specifically family life programs will be made part and parcel of our education systems

3. Hold frequent consultation with religious organisations to discuss issues of National importance such as poverty, unemployment, among others

4. Enact a public holiday for thanksgiving prayers for the strides that He has made us to achieve in our development.

21.3 Labour and Industrial Relations

Labour productivity in any Country is determined by the level of education and skills embodied in human capital. Even more important, it is affected by the status of industrial relation and conditions at work place. The DP Government commits itself to implementing in full the tenets of Industrial Relations Charter which is the social contract among the social partners in industrial relations namely COTU, the FKE, and the Government. In this respect the DP Government will strongly support tripartite consultations, negotiations, and consensus in decision taking with the social partners on matters relating to industrial relations. The DP Government will promote and adhere to joint consultative meetings among all stakeholders including labour unions, employers, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) as well as the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). The DP Government further believes in a strong trade unionism where unions have the ability and the capacity to protect and enhance the interests of their members as opposed to weak, fragile unions that can not sustain themselves or counter the power of unscrupulous employers. Although Kenya’s industrial relations is well developed it suffers from the delays in settlement of trade disputes; low minimum wages; child labour; women discrimination; hostile employer relations, and delayed industrial courts decisions. Inorder to improve efficiency in industrial relations the DP Government will implement the following measures:

1. Using inflation trends to review the minimum wage upwards by atleast 50 percent

2. Reduce the lengthy cumbersome and costly mechanism of grievance handling from the shop floor level up to the Industrial Court

3. Decentralize the function of the Industrial Court to the District headquarters

4. Establish an industrial Court of Appeal

5. Continue to respect the Industrial Relations Charter

6. Promote education of workers on their labour rights especially safety at work place

7. Ensure that casual workers regulations are reviewed to be worker friendly.

8. Guarantee that labour is remunerated regularly, timely and fairly

9. Eliminate women discrimination in the labour market and eliminate child labour.

10. Encourage trade unions to address the issues of labour productivity and value addition and motivation skills

11. Encourage trade unions to maintain high degree of union members by raising the salary of the highest paid unionisable staff.

12. Build the capacity of COTU, FKE, and the Ministry of Labour inorder for them to effectively and efficiently deal with labour issues while institutionalizing culture for good industrial relations governance.

13. Enhance professionalism in trade unions

The welfare of persons with physical disabilities in Kenya has not received the attention it deserved in the past. These people are not disabled, they are merely differently abled. They must be treated equally like other Kenyans through the provision of education, health, leadership, positions and other opportunities. Furthermore work spaces must take care of their welfare. The Party believes that the people living with disability should be treated fairly, and this being a cross cutting multi-sectoral issue. The Democratic Party of Kenya appreciates the challenges and will take the following measures to alleviate the effects of disabilities:

1. Document those with abilities and develop a National Policy on Disabilities;

2. Establish special schools for the persons with disabilities

3. Create a National Trust Fund for the affected;

4. Develop, adopt and transfer technologies that can be used by the people with disabilities;

5. Ensure each Ministry has a disability sector that should receive funding meant for poverty reduction programs to benefit persons with disability;

6. Allocate a percentage of CDF and LATF funds for programming of the physically and mentally challenged.

7. Ensure that education has a clear provision for special/inclusive education and positive discrimination of persons with learning disabilities;

8. Guarantee friendly work spaces, buildings, schools, hospitals and other amenities

9. Domesticate the UN Convention of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities by making sure persons with disability have access to education, employment, information and healthcare

10. Integrate persons with disability in the mainstream of the society.

11. Spearhead the advocacy and activities related to improving the lives of persons with disability

12. Implement in full Persons with Disability Act, 2003 that provides for the rights and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities; and achievement of equalization opportunities for persons with disabilities

21.5 Sports and Development

Sports provide physical and recreational relief to society, replenishing the spent energies of the people and encouraging sustained and continuous physical health. They lessen expenditure on health programmes and reduce losses in working days. Participation in sports also plays a critical role in political and National integration as the various ethnic groups exploit their particular talents in different sports, all for the glory of Kenya. However, the most important aspect of sports in National development is the building of socio discipline. In learning to play as a team, we learn to work and live as a community. It is thus, important that Kenya recognize and adequately reward our gallant sportsmen and women, not only our contemporary heroes and heroines but also the veteran pioneers, some of whom have fallen on hard times.

21.5.1 The future of sports in Kenya

Sports have not been fully developed in Kenya. The factors that hinder sport development can be summarized as: Lack of adequate funds for preparation of teams to participate in National and International competition; lack of adequate facilities and equipment; and inadequate qualified personnel in the field of coaching and general instructions. If Kenya is to compete effectively in the world of sports, we must develop world-class stadia.

In order to strengthen sports and recreation in Kenya the DP Government will implement the following measures:

1. Institute appropriate reward system and also encourage the introduction of professionalism in Kenyan sports to protect our sports personalities from exploitation

2. Increase investments in sports development.

3. Establish a National Sports Academy (NSA)

4. Develop world class stadia in all the districts.

5. Make sports a tourist attraction.

6. Ensure that all divisions in Kenya have decent and well managed sports and recreation facilities especially for developing sports activities for the youth.

21.5.2 Leisure and Entertainment

Leisure and entertainment industry plays a major role in both income and employment generation. Inorder to improve efficiency and growth in this industry the DP Government will implement the following measures:

1. Allow entertainment equipments to be imported free of duty

2. Encourage courses in music, drama and film making in our schools

3. Reward and protect intellectual property in music

21.6 Women in Development

The Democratic Party of Kenya recognizes the important role played by women in the development of the Country. It is recognised that women contribute 60 to 80 percent of labour in the household, reproduction activities, and agricultural production. Generally women work for longer hours than men. This contributes to their poorer health status and high maternal mortality. Even in schools, girl dropout disadvantages them. Hence it is imperative that the Country should design and implement appropriate intervention; invest in their education, welfare and health of the women in order for them to positively contribute in leadership and fully participate in policy formulation, implementation of development programmes and thereof monitoring and evaluation. This implies that we must empower women to be equal partners in development. The Democratic Party of Kenya Government will undertake the following measures:

1. Ensure that women are involved in decision making by creating special seats in Parliament and Local Authorities

2. Ensure that 50 percent of the Cabinet are women.

3. Ensure that fifty percent of all the parastatals are headed by women

4. Ensure that productive resources including land are equally availed to both men and women

5. Move from strategies to implementation of affirmative action.

6. Involve women in governance, corruption, crime reduction and all community development affairs

7. Mainstream policies in ministries tailored for women and gender balance

8. Outlaw early marriages for school going girls

9. Set up an advisory board to implement this policy

10. Provide free sanitary towels

21.7 Youth and Development

The Democratic Party of Kenya recognizes the important role that the youth play in development. The Kenyan population is made up of 60 percent youth. The youth must be trained in leadership and good governance as a way of preparing them for future leadership. In this regard the Democratic Party of Kenya has the Young Democrats Congress as a way of nurturing the leadership transition. The youth have however a number of challenges canalized by school drop outs, drug abuse, unemployment, underemployment moral decay, high number of HIV/AIDS infected and affected youth, lack of skills, lack of credit and wrong associations, rural urban migration, drudgery of agricultural work, lack of attractive alternative employment in the rural areas, poor academic grade, among others.

The Democratic Party of Kenya Government will undertake the following measures to enhance the performance of the youth in development:

1. Ensure that the youth are involved in decision making by creating special seats in Parliament and local authorities

2. Promote entertainment skills e.g. drama and music

3. Develop attitudes and skills courses in schools especially in primary and secondary schools

4. Strengthen the youth through training and education in leadership skills

5. Establish a youth development policy

6. Encourage participation in cultural and sporting activities among the youth in the Country as a way of elimination of tribalism, ethnicity, racialism, and inculcating moral values

7. Build capacities in the rural areas to help reduce the migration of the youth to the urban areas with special reference to agricultural related artisan trade

8. Develop targeted skills for both wage employment and self- employment

9. Educate the youth on the dangers of drug abuse and trafficking and money laundering

10. In collaboration with private partner, develop agro-business and agro-processing in rural areas to provide supplementary or alternative employment.

21.8 The Elderly in Development

The Democratic Party of Kenya recognizes the need to care, protect and provide for the aged as their rights. Little attention has been given to senior citizens as has been exemplified even by the manner the freedom fighters have suffered. Kenyan heroes and heroines of yesterday have languished in poverty without anyone caring about them. The few homes of the aged that have been put up by the Churches and NGOs lack the capacity to effectively and efficiently care for the elderly.

However, the real threat to the survival and development of older people are not from the past but from the present and the future. The development strategies of the Government have failed to address this issue. There is no policy on the elders and the poverty reduction strategy papers have failed to address the issues of senior citizen. The elderly are suffering from poverty, hardship and fear of the future as their declining strength is accompanied by declining income and quality of life. In homesteads of the elderly that are taking care of orphans of departed parents due to HIV/AIDS. Some of their children also languish in poverty and lack employment. The old people are also suffering from lack of health care services, food security and gender discrimination. Accordingly, the Democratic Party of Kenya will:

1. Formulate a National Policy for the elderly people.

2. Assist the aged with day care services for those who are sick and establish geriatrics medical/health institutions

3. Provide free medical care to the elderly

4. Establish a special fund for the elderly

5. Establish homes for the elderly and build capacities in the existing ones

6. Protect and prevent the older people against violence and abuse of their human rights

7. Utilize the older people as sources of research into our history and document the same.

8. Free medical outpatient and subsidy at 50 percent of NHIF

21.9 Culture and Development

Culture includes customs, civilization, and achievements of the people. The DP Government believes that the Kenyan people have a rich culture that should be protected and preserved. In order to promote and preserve our culture the DP Government will implement the following strategies:

1. Introduce courses on culture in our schools

2. Establish district museums

3. Protect all our National Monuments

4. Strengthen the Ministry in charge of Culture and Sports

5. Recognize all our heroes including the Mau Mau fighters and all sportsmen and sports women.