Willis Otieno’s pledge to Kenyans amid the ‘Niko Kadi’ challenge
By Cynthia Lodite, March 20, 2026City lawyer Willis Otieno has shared voting tips with Kenyans, emphasising the importance of voting with memory instead of emotions as civic mobilisation efforts intensify across Kenya.
In a statement on his official X account on Friday, March 20, 2026, Otieno explained that voting with memory means institutionalising accountability at the citizen level.
On his part, the lawyer has emphasised the importance of evaluating the promises made to Kenyans by politicians.
“Voting with memory means institutionalizing accountability at the citizen level. It requires recalling commitments made, evaluating what was actually delivered, and interrogating the gap between the two,” Willis said.
According to the lawyer, Kenyans should go forth and ask the hard questions, which include questions around the cost of living and public resource management.
“It means asking hard questions: Has the cost of living improved? Are public resources being managed prudently? Are opportunities expanding or contracting? Are institutions being strengthened or undermined?” Willis added.
In his framework, Otieno explained that elections ought to be a form of performance review where leaders who demonstrate competence, integrity, and tangible results are rewarded with renewed mandates.
“In this framework, elections become a form of performance review. Leaders who demonstrate competence, integrity, and tangible results are rewarded with renewed mandates. Those who preside over decline, mismanagement, or broken promises are removed as a rational correction mechanism within a democratic system,” Willis explained.
He went on explaining that rewarding performance and punishing failure is not vindictive; instead, it is economically and politically necessary, as it aligns incentives within the governance structure.
Niko Kadi challenge
The city lawyer’s pledge comes at a time when Niko Kadi Challenge, a youth-led movement, has taken centre stage online, rallying young people to register as voters and take ownership of their future.
The challenge led by Photojournalist Allans Ademba has moved numbers, winning the hearts of dozens of Kenyans of all walks of life after successfully mobilising hundreds of first-time Gen Z voters to register as voters.
Ademba, who has been running the #TukoKadi online campaign, a digital mobilisation program aimed at registering en masse for the 2027 General Elections, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, chaperoned hundreds of Kasarani residents to register as voters at the IEBC centre, within the D.O’s offices in Kasarani sub-county.
Ademba’s campaign follows a viral TikTok trend dubbed ‘Small Circle’ where politically-enlightened Gen Z have been gathering their friends, registering as voters and then sharing videos of their friend groups and their verified voter identification details.