Older leaders should give way as youths gradually stake their claim

Cameroon President Paul Biya addresses a campaign rally in Maroua on October 7, 2025. Cameroonians re-elected their 93-year-old president on October 12, 2025. [AFP]

Africa is arguably the richest continent in terms of natural resources at 30 per cent of the global total, yet wallows in abject poverty. Greedy, visionless pretenders to the throne have ensured that this remains Africa’s story for a long time.

One wonders, though, is Africa’s major problem entirely vampire and predatory leadership per se, or the people's inability to be rational in delegating power? On October 12, 2025, Cameroonians re-elected their frail 93-year-old President Paul Biya who spends more time in hospitals abroad than at home formulating policy and offering leadership.

In Uganda recently, 81-year-old Yoweri Museveni was re-elected president in a poll that fooled no one. More baffling is the re-election of 86-year-old General Moses Ali as the Member of Parliament of Ajumani constituency.

That happened notwithstanding that Ali has withered both mentally and physically. He can hardly walk, hold his head up, sit by himself or speak, which could, in part, be a medical condition beyond his control, but therein lies the problem. What do we look for in leaders?

At that advanced age when body and mind have naturally deteriorated, a situation compounded by ailments, it is preposterous to expect Biya, Museveni and Ali to sit in their offices, leave alone articulate critical issues touching on their people.

When, therefore, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula recently reiterated that President William Ruto will pass the baton to a Luhya leader (read Moses Wetangula or Musalia Mudavadi) in 2032, the inevitable question arose; is Kenya ready to go the Cameroon or Uganda way?

The joke is that the supposed Luhya supremos still have the nerve to imagine themselves as worthy presidential contenders, yet when Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli spearheaded an initiative for a unified Luhya block that settled on Mudavadi as the Luhya kingpin in December 2016 at Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega, Wetangula would have none of it. The indefatigable Atwoli called yet another meeting dubbed Bukhungu II in December 2021, but it, too, came a cropper.

Exasperated by the difficulties in bridging the divide among Luhya leaders, Atwoli admitted he was banking on support from Wetangula and Mudavadi to call for Bukhungu III in December 2026. And now that the duo’s idealistic disposition leads them to fantasise about inheriting the mantle from Ruto in 2032, they are rearing to reactivate a familiar chant; Luhya unity.

Their expectation, however, is out of alignment with global realities. Tech-savvy youth have staked their claim on leadership, and technological advancements that have disoriented the Old Guard will ensure that in a few years from now, the youth will have fully taken over. This is not a localised phenomenon, the whole world is experiencing the youth upheaval.

So, while world leadership is inclined to get youthful, these geezers are still talking of  taking over the presidency in 2032 after Ruto. God permitting, Mudavadi and Wetangula will be 72 and 76-years-old respectively in 2032. Given the current youth agitation, will the youth willingly vote for antiquity?

Most of our aged leaders have become conceited and delusional after enjoying the perks of power for too long without giving anything worthwhile in return. Many of them have developed a sense of entitlement to leadership and brag about whitewashing their opponents as though they are the custodians of voters' cards and all they have to do is mark ballot papers, as we saw in Uganda recently, and drop them in the ballot box.  

The Kenyan voters may still not be as smart as they should be, but the ground is shifting perceptibly. This is a reality self-appointed Luhya supremos, who believe they will inherit the presidency from Ruto, should bear in mind.

Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka recently got it right when he pointed out what ails Luhya leadership: Greed and envy. Every player in the Luhya leadership team wants to be the one to score a goal against the opponent. It has never occurred to them that only one player finds himself in a position to score regardless of whether he is a defender, midfielder or striker.