NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY (TISA)

As the sun rays in this country that houses the equator usher us into 2025, The Institute forSocial Accountability (TISA) sends forth a clarion call to all the people of Kenya and active citizens of the globe. May the voice of the people get hoarse while ensuring that democracy finds its rhythm not in the hollow echoes of boardrooms but in the heartbeat of the people.As Thomas Sankara once said, we believe, ‘We cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.’ This ‘madness’ is speaking truth to power, demanding justice where silence has reigned and asking and insisting—that the people’s voices not just be heard but obeyed.

May 2025 usher in an era where our taxes do not wander into accounts in Panama or posh airports in the Middle East but instead trickle down to the widow, the orphan, the farmers with crops that need organic manure, not fake fertilisers, cows that need consistent government-funded vaccines not forced vaccines for unknown priorities and hustles as they seek to get from the bottom of the political and economic repression to top of dignified lives. May the ghosts of past corruption be exorcised with the same vigour our leaders’ campaign with because, in Wangari Maathai’s wisdom, “The higher you go, the more responsible you should become.” Oh, and speaking of responsibility, let us demand from our elected stewards not mansions, motorcades, and meagre bursaries but medicine in our clinics, food on our tables, and schools where the future is guaranteed for all through equitable and timely capitation and where the funding model at university level falls as ruled by the court and the promise of the elimination of illiteracy, poverty and disease ring true as opposed the existing structures that birth bundles of inequalities.

Let 2025 be the year of economic liberation, where we revisit the vision of a free and equitable Africa that Winnie Mandela spoke of: “There is no longer anything I can fear. There is nothing the government has not done to me. There isn’t any pain I haven’t known.” May her defiance, together with that of Mekatilili wa Menza and Muthoni Nyanjiru, guide us as we tackle the greed that keeps many hungry during the few feasts. The power and authority now leave many parents and siblings in families wondering where their courageous youth who care deeply about this country and speak truth to the decorated in power are. It is a time to join in ensuring all state and public officials live the values and principles of Article10 and know that they have no choice but to reform and listen to the people.

Our message to the courts, the parliament, the executive, and all who hold power is urgent.Do not mistake our patience for resignation, our kindness for weakness, resilience for complacency or our deep mediation for acquiescence. We have no patience for a government that listens only to its applause.

And to the people, we call on you to reclaim the promise of participatory democracy in 2025. Let us ask not “What will they do for us?” but instead, “What will we demand of them?” As Sankara said, “He who feeds you controls you.” In 2025, may we feed ourselves with courage, justice, and solidarity. Let us create the needed countdown not to tolerate another day without the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) being fully constituted without further delay so that all processes for democratic oversight by the people before the next general elections kick in and that the 2027 general elections have a chance at adequate preparation.

The 45 days the high court gave for publishing all sovereign debt contracts is a crucial deadline that will fall due in February 2025. We have done our part in putting together the court petition, and we call on you to join us as we demand accountability and transparency of all public debt through a comprehensive forensic and performance debt audit. We already owe over 11 trillion Kenya shillings in future tax. Yet the quality of public services and goods continues diminishing, and others are vanishing. Our local banks and other financial institutions continue to announce massive profits drawn from investing citizens’ deposits in government treasury bills and bonds, which, year in and year out, directors and shareholders boomerang with bonuses from profits drawn from lending at unconscionable interest rates. Our foreign debt continues to grow bridled with neoliberal overtures that have seen our debt servicing grow to be higher than our loans and grants, clearly going against the needed trajectory of economic transition justice and ultimate economic freedom often fanned by corrupt political elite who allow extractive fiscal processes and use every opportunity to divert and steal debt monies.

May 2025 be a year of concerted conviction to demand a better Kenya for all, especially the majority of oppressed people. May justice be our shield and defender. We wish you a courageous and happy 2025, in which every day, every voice, and every action of citizens brings us closer to dignity and freedom from various injustices.

The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA)