In Kenya, general elections bring about their fair share of challenges every five years. At the lowest community levels and especially slums, election periods are filled with tension and fear of conflicts and violence. Youths in this case are the the most vulnerable victims of intense campaign activities witnessed during such periods.
While this is a vital process that presents a perfect opportunity to elect representatives for different political offices, it is also important to understand that there’s much more that awaits us and need our attention even beyond the election period, like it is put simply ‘there is life beyond elections’.
In the 2022 edition of Slum Footie tournament, in which youths drawn from all the nine villages of Korogocho slum participated, we urged youths and Korogocho slum community members to continue to uphold peace during and after the electioneering period. Through combined efforts from different stakeholders i.e Life and Peace Institute, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and National Police Service (NPS) we held discussions and sensitisations on the importance of shunning violence and maintaining peace in korogocho.
Even in our diversity and differences, if we uphold peace we will win together!