Hon Johnson Sakaja who has been nominated in the Oversight (Progressive Legislation) category
The People’s Shujaaz Awards- an initiative to celebrate Parliamentarians that have excelled in championing issues of great public interest in Parliament – the National Assembly and Senate has been launched by Mzalendo Trust. The inaugural People’s Shujaaz Awards has 10 categories with 3 nominees each. The Parliamentarians were selected based on bills moved, contributions to bills, motions raised and statements issued from March 2013 to date.
Mzalendo’s review of Parliamentary records revealed discussions on education, water, health and budgetary oversight dominated debate.
“At the centre of these Awards are the bread and butter issues that drive Kenyan election campaigns and politics like food, health, water, education, security as well as core mandates of Parliament like devolution and budgetary oversight. The issues and list of nominees were arrived at through collaborative efforts between Mzalendo and other civil societies working on governance issues,†said Mzalendo’s Executive Director, Jessica Musila.
Kenyans spend a lot of time bashing politicians and there is a risk that we may dismiss or fail to encourage those who are actually representing their interests. People’s Shujaaz Awards is an attempt to fix the problem of bashing politicians and may fail to encourage those who actually represent the interests of the people.
Through this initiative, Mzalendo seeks to gently nudge Parliamentarians to champion public interest, raise public awareness on the roles of MPs and Senators plus sensitize them on the need to hold their leaders to account.
You have a chance to vote for your best choice in each category through online voting on info.mzalendo.com/shujaaz-voting. Voting closes on 7th December 2014, 11.59pm and finalists will be announced and awarded gifts on 11th December 2014.