Young people determined to shape our country's destiny

Youth during Gen Z protest in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

Concerned that it’s not enough to click, tweet and retweet, young people have cobbled a diverse coalition to sustain the thirst for change. But let me start from the beginning.

Between June 25th anniversary and Saba Saba commemorations, there was concern that we were recording an unjustifiably high number of casualties. Every protest left many people wounded and so many families lost their loved ones. The young people then convened and deliberated on how to sustain the desire for change without putting our peers in the harm’s way. In the many meetings that would follow, the convener of Inter-Parties Youth Forum was tasked with reaching out to other youth leaders across diverse sectors of our society to brainstorm on the way forward.

We first mapped out which sectors to reach out to first. We figured out that youth serving organisations must work hand in hand with young people in political parties. We then reached out to young people in academia through various student bodies. The exciting part is that everywhere we turned, we found young people ready and eager to engage in helping co-create innovative solutions.

After many consultations, both physically and virtually, we got the proverbial white smoke. We were able to acknowledge that while we cannot pretend to know every answer to our many collective challenges, building an inclusive platform for dialogue is a generational calling we must respond to in the affirmative. The various sectors then started to send their representatives to the many meetings we convened to help set in motion the dialogue platform.

We finally settled on the name ‘Manifesto Yetu Initiative’. Like the name suggests, we are in the process of convening regional conventions to help us document the beliefs, intentions, disappointments and the highest hopes of the young people. When we speak about the collapse of social amenities such as education, our friends with loud megaphones are quick to dismiss such sentiments by suggesting that we have never had it this good. When you point out other existing gaps in the many programmes run by the State, what meets you is a hollow slogan which at best might mean, ‘Do not disturb, eating in progress’.

There is a subtle but a mischievous attempt already to bastardise the youth participation in the ongoing voter registration. There is a suggestion that young people have given the exercise a wide berth. We know that in the old adage that it’s never over till the fat lady sings. The exercise has been open for just one week thus far. The apathy that other people want to use to define our participation is not grounded in fact. There is still so much time to have the young people step out but if it were true that they are giving the exercise a wide berth, it could be a pointer to other issues such as public confidence other than the attitudes of the young people in isolation.

The other challenge is the information gap between the young people and some of the governance institutions. As we roll towards the General Election, the young people have signalled that they will speak for themselves. They will restate their feelings as boldly as they have done before. They will not sit back and watch misinformation and disinformation deployed to drive a wedge of division. The pillars of integrity will be erected by young people to replace the broken walls of trust.

In places where inequality has reigned supreme, we must lay the foundations of justice and inclusion. Whereas as a consequence of politics of big money and small ideas, hopelessness has taken root, we will seek to open the door of opportunity. We are the future no more. We are the builders with the courage and vision to mend what has been broken. For our homeland of Kenya, heritage of splendour, firm may we stand to defend.

Mr Kidi is Senior Policy Associate, Felt Africa Group and convenor of Inter-Parties Youth Forum. [e-mail]