WE ARE MORE is an organization that demands accountability and transparency using law and technology to synergize people’s rights. We believe that citizens are bound to participate, deserve good governance, transparency & accountability as embedded in the constitution A.10. Hence using technology we look to enforce these beliefs. Our mantra being “fairness for all generations” so we strongly advocate for inter-generational equity. Our current actions must consider future generations to come.

WE ARE MORE started out in 2016 with law students at the University of Nairobi, as an instrument to counter violent extremism, advocate against corruption and other vices affecting Kenya. We started by organizing a peace walk in Mombasa in partnership with Jumiya ya Wanafunzi wa Pwani and other local organizations. Our aim was and still is to reach out to the youth as the youth make up the largest populous in Kenya and our tools were social media complemented by on the ground activities.

Our project is about creating social change by producing content that informs our audience, engages them to meaningful discussion and provokes them to care about their society. We do this through video content that stand out on social media, that educates Kenyans on their legal rights but also informs them on decisions of governance that affects them. We also look to ensure that we offer free legal advice for the whole month of July on our digital legal aid platform.

The campaign message targets all citizens of Kenya but more particularly our video content is for the youth who currently comprise the largest portion of the population. A research by Research plus Africa that focused on the demographics of those within the age bracket of 15-24 found out that this age group perceives governance as irrelevant to their lives.

1 in 5 Kenyans who has a legal problem, does nothing about it. On the other hand, it’s a common narrative in Kenya that “Kenyans don’t know their rights”, which seems to have been normalized as the status quo. However, change cannot happen until people understand the rights conferred to them as per the Constitution that was enacted in 2010. According to Arnstein’s model of public participation it indicates that as a country we rate at ‘non-participation’ which is level 1 of a possible 8 on this model. The aspiration of the Constitution is that Kenyans achieve level 6 of partnership between the people and the government. Kenyan citizens’ awareness is very high, but involvement is very low. Annette Omollo (2011) states in Kenya, citizens need to know their roles and responsibilities but also acquire knowledge and skills on how to execute their responsibility. This is what has motivated this campaign to try and raise the standards in our country.

Our project looks to spark a change of mindset in the youth primarily. Creating conversations and narratives that foster a breeding ground for change in our community. We are more, seeks to empower the citizenry to turn their inaction to action understanding their rights, participating in governance thus transforming our society. In addition, we wanted citizens to understand there is an avenue where they can get prompt assistance with their legal issues through our digital platform.

Check out our website on www.wearemore.co.ke