World Oceans Day - More than Just Festivities

       Sunday 8^th of June marked the celebration of World Oceans Day (WOD). Eco Ethics International Kenya – the NGO I’m currently interning for – have been planning for this day since early January. Although attendance was lower than previous years the level of participation remained high. I’m told that the decrease in turn out was due to the 8^th falling on a Sunday – a day that locals use to relax, go to church and spend time with their families. 

          The day began bright and early with a procession that was scheduled to begin at 8:30 (factoring in African time) from Makadara grounds across town and ending at Mama Ngina Drive. School children hailing from Mombasa county as well as those from neighboring counties of Kilifi and Kwale, marched enthusiastically through a quiet and still awakening Mombasa city, chanting and dancing to the rhythms of Mvita band who led the procession. I loved that they incorporated snippets from popular pop songs such as Shakira’s Waka Waka integrated in the chant of ‘Together we have the power to protect the ocean’ or in Kiswahili ‘pamoja tuna uwezo wa kulinda bahari yetu’, I was informed that this made it easier for the school children, particularly the younger one’s to remember the chant.

I was further pleasantly surprised that the female officers from the local police department, as well as those from the armed forces, who were requested to accompany the procession for security purposes, joined in the festivities in full spirit singing along with the children and dancing – which I was told by an intern from the Friends of Kenya that it was a very rare sight as they are usually dead serious.

            Once arrived at Mama Ngina there was a beach clean up scheduled, which turned out to actually be a park clean up. The clean up frenzy ensued for no more than 20 minutes and was over in little time, which I was a little disappointed by. Understandably we were late as the procession started late, but it still appeared that the whole clean up process was just superficially going through motions rather than actually cleaning up the park.

        Succeeding the clean up, we watched victors from the Inter schools competition – an even that occurred earlier in the month – perform skits and recite poetry that garnered applause and laughter from the audience. We also witnessed traditional dances performed by children from a primary school and a military-like performance by the scouts. This was followed by speeches from guest speakers including the Director of Eco Ethics, Dr. Okeyo and the Deputy Director of the National Environment Management Authorities (NEMA) – a close partner of Eco Ethics – Madam Betty Nzioki. An award giving ceremony accompanied by a local band (and a sudden downpour) officially marked the end of WOD 2014.

June 8th is more than just festivities. It is a strong message that is sent to the public and young school children promoting collaborative efforts in the quest of coastal resource conservation. Additionally, it expresses an optimism in the potential and capacity of youths (an often marginalized demographic) to be the agents of change. The objectives and purpose of the day is all part of a larger effort in the ongoing process of trying to instill principles and values of environmentalism into young Kenyans in order to create an environmentally conscious generation who will in turn ensure that the ocean will be utilized in a sustainable fashion.

However, this successful event has not come without challenges. The planning process for WOD (the little that I was able to witness) shed light on the benefits as well as the challenges of collaborating with governmental agencies such as NEMA, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI). Whilst these aforementioned governmental agencies are crucial stakeholders, and provide funding for the event, there are many challenges, devolution being one of them. Instead of making these agencies more accessible and responsive to the citizenry, oftentimes, the devolved system appears to have just added unnecessary layers of bureaucracy (as one of my fellow Eco Ethics interns expressed) and confusion in the chain of command.

This made the planning process painstakingly slow and long, incurring a large opportunity cost as members from Eco Ethics dedicated large amounts of time, effort and resources that could have been spent elsewhere. In order for the WOD to achieve its full potential, the county authorities should truly prioritize the event, as the ocean is a resource that affects all its constituencies and its industries.