When the youth dared to dream

NAIROBI: Last Saturday I participated at a debating session at Lukenya Academy where my son is a pupil. My visit had coincided with a session of the debating club where a heated argument on matters security was ongoing. Mindful not to cause any interruption, I took my seat at the back of the crowd and sat and listened.

The sophistication and the depth of knowledge in the debated wowed me. Speaker after speaker explained and poked holes into our national security policy. "We live in dangerous times" one of the contributors said with the confidence of a seasoned politician... "as citizens we must take our security into our own hands."

Yet another suggested people should allowed to buy and keep their own guns so that they can feel safer. Another retorted: "if owning guns can make people safer, then America would have been the safest place."

And the debate went on and on. I couldn't get enough of it. Those kids I met at Lukenya were to say the least, quite impressive. I saw future leaders; doctors, accountants, engineers, politicians and business leaders. They cogently argued their case; no interruptions, no shouting, no whistles, no talk down. They really inspired me those kids.

They gave me hope about a future Kenya that is devoid of politics of conspiracy, tribalism and corruption. A Kenya where knowledge is the currency of trade; where you don't have to break someone's skull to advance your agenda.

The youth, much thought as the despair of our society offer that great hope. I am tempted to rewrite sections of a column I wrote in December last year. What I saw at Lukenya has a ring to it, but in a different way.

A lot of my readers are the youth. I admire their forthrightness, their honesty their "direct style." They tell things up straight. All around the world, it has frequently fallen on the youth to stir up things, topple regimes and liberate societies.

The youth have been at the vanguard of change and it seems that a new dawn is beckoning where the force of youth-driven agitation is grinding against the forces of status quo largely represented by unruly politicians supported by a cabal of graying, inflexible bureaucrats.

It has been 52 years since Kenya got independence. Kenya has made great strides in development, but we have not reached that desired destination. There are far too many injustices being committed on the citizens.

Those born then are now battling midlife crisis of unfulfilled dreams and dashed hopes. I notice the restlessness of the youth. They want to get things done. And now. They are tired of the "leaders of tomorrow" line.

Walk into any coffee shop in any town, or any other popular venues, you will meet with youth talking politics hours on end. Even religious teachings these days are laced with the role of the youth in national politics.

Lectures in colleges wander off into talk about the not-so-good state of things and the need for change. A change many of them feel has been promised forever. While the older citizens are lost in self-defeating, self-assurance serenading themselves about how far they have come from, the youth yearn for a new beginning. They can see that change. They can grasp it.

And they have the weapons to execute what they want in the form of smartphones and social media.

Every day, "cyber warriors" upload and broadcast in real time issues from the grassroots; from rundown infrastructure, lousy public service to such updates as when a river has flooded upstream. I am tagged on these every minute of the day. Believe you me, it keeps me on my toes.

Emboldened and in solidarity, the youth around the country are voicing their impatience with the ruling class. Internet chat rooms, Yahoo, Facebook, whatsapp and Twitter is the present day Uhuru Park, Kapkatet or Kamukunji grounds for political agitation. You ignore them at your own peril.

The youth is a rich vote bank. In the past, Kenyan youth were loath to engage in politics. Yet the swelling ranks of discontent youth tells of changing times. Many feel that they have been denied opportunity to be what they ought to be. To the determined youth who is inspired by peer persuasion, going against the grain and changing the course of things is equalled to a pilgrimage.

In Iran in 2009, like other "youth uprisings" in the past, the script was the same, the tools of trade the same and the actors of the same mould.

The 1989 uprising in Poland that triggered the end of Communism in Europe was predominantly driven by the youth.

The Tank Man of Tiananmen Squarre brandishing a handful of paper bags, blocked a column of tanks that was rolling through Beijing in 1989. Wang Weiling, then 19, stood up to the tanks and though no trace of him was ever found, his defiance became the symbol of the protests by students and the Chinese demanding greater freedoms and more accountability from their government and leaders.

Kenya's graying reformists of yester-years are pale shadows of their old selves. Unfortunately, it seems that once they boarded the gravy train, most of them forgot the ideals that they held deep in their hearts as university student leaders and civil activists.

The Kenyan youth has been instruments of bad leadership willingly or unwillingly. But the tide is changing. And the battle for Kenya's next liberation will be fought by the new breed of Kenyan youth; young, liberal and educated.

Watch this space.