The document expresses deep concern over Kenya's government shutting down media houses, arresting journalists and opposition leaders, and threatening citizens. It argues the government is becoming authoritarian, violating the constitution, and reversing democratic gains. It calls for Kenyans to protest starting Monday through the #NotInOurCountry movement to demand a government that respects human rights, democracy, and the rule of law as outlined in Kenya's constitution.

1. Not in My Country Kenya
Created: 02 February 2018
1. We stand together as Kenyan citizens today, deeply concerned about the dark turn our
cherished country has taken.
2. We see a rogue government that is now law unto itself. We are standing together
today to say we cannot let this happen – not in our country.
3. On the 30
th
of January, the Jubilee regime shut down 3 media houses, and extended
the information blackout with threats of investigation for ‘subversion’. Security forces
have launched a crackdown on journalists, editors, and opposition leaders, and after
some vindictive drama, charged an MP with an offence that it will be difficult to
prove in court. Ordinary citizens have not been spared – they are also being
threatened with arrest for supporting the peaceful swearing-in of Raila Odinga as ‘The
Peoples President’.
4. The government claims it has averted a ‘looming massacre’. But this flies in the face
of the truth. The gathering of thousands of people from all over the country on
Tuesday January 30 2018 was historically and overwhelmingly peaceful. It proved
that - given the chance - Kenyans express their hopes and desires for their beloved
country peacefully. It tells us what we knew to be true in 2017: that it is the Kenyan
police that bring violence, not the people.
5. Editors are now facing the threat of arbitrary arrest for simply doing their job – and
for continuing to do it, despite enormous pressure. Providing the public with
information is being made a crime. …. Will you, the people, allow this to happen in
our country?
6. Kenya is deeply divided and unhappy after a fraught and violent election year that
seems to have produced no real winners. The unhappy stalemate is hurting us as
citizens, and setting the stage for conflict. We are deeply concerned about reports of
inter-communal violence, with people being attacked and killed because of their
ethnicity. Ethnic mafias are being mobilized. There are protests in the counties – what
is happening in our country? It is dangerous to be kept in the dark, as happened with
the television blackout.
7. Since the elections, the Jubilee government has been grappling with serious questions
of acceptance and legitimacy. The huge turnout for the ‘Peoples’ President’ ceremony
points to a deep crisis. Selective arrests, bans and shutdowns will not resolve it.
Kenyans are becoming desperate – political instability is on-going; food prices are
continuously on the rise; job-layoffs are becoming the order of the day; and critical
public services such as health and education are either sub-standard or are not truly
free as the government would want us to believe. This is a painful existence for the
ordinary Kenyan. People feel they already have very little to count on. Taking away
our freedoms is something that we cannot and will not bear.
8. The government, meanwhile, is picking and choosing the aspects of the Constitution
it wants to use. We have seen the appointment of a cabinet that disregards the gender
rule required by the Constitution and reaffirmed by the courts. The President has also
established a new office - the Chief Administrative Secretaries within the Cabinet –
that is not recognized in the Constitution’s definition of the cabinet. There are
attempts to shield appointees from vetting.
9. There are also appointments to the National Police Service that fail to comply with

2. the requirements of public participation. Institutions like the National Police Service
Commission are meant to be safeguards and sources of public oversight - but are fast
becoming rubber-stamps for arbitrary, repressive actions. And can we say our newly
elected Parliament will help protect our country? Not if it routinely fails to question
the actions of the Executive.
10. There has been plenty of pressure on both sides of the political divide to engage in
dialogue, and talk. The deafening silence is threatening to reverse gains the country
made since the 2007-08 post-election violence.
11. Are we going to just stand by and watch our country slide back into authoritarianism?
It seems we are simply watching our hard-fought rights and freedoms be taken
away….Let us stand together and say NO – Not in our Country
12. In Kenya, the long and heroic struggle for democracy came at great cost for many
individuals and families. This government has shown us this week that it intends to
take us back into fear and deprivation.
13. We have to speak up and say ‘Not in our Country’. This is a call for action. We must
reclaim the Kenya that is rightfully ours.
14. We will begin #NotInOurCountry protests on Monday with a peaceful demonstration
against the actions of this rogue government; and we will put the political leadership
on notice. The government serves the people; we do not serve you. Kenyans want to
be represented by a government that cherishes and respects human rights values of
equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law. This is what we - the
people - proclaimed when we enacted the Constitution. That constitution governs us
all – with no exceptions.