Our youth have made street, not State House, new place of honour

Demonstrators breach Parliament, June 24, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] We call them "our children". But this description does not quite fit. When young athletes go out to compete, we do not call them children. At the very least, we call them our ambassadors, and when they bag medals we own them as "our heroes". Saying that the Finance Bill was floored by "children" minimizes who the young people are and diminishes their accomplishments. Some parents have said, "We will go to the streets to be with our children". Some of this speaks solidarity, but another tells of parents looking out for their children. But the reality is that the children are in the streets taking on a battle their parents and seniors either feared or failed to take on. The children are going out so that they and their parents are free. Seniors need protection from forces of oppression and their children have vowed to deliver it! Some other parents have come out and said, "We want to die with our children." This implies taking up their children's passion and believing in it. It is taking up their anger and their courage. It means taking up their devotion - a devotion to die for. That they are our children cannot be denied. But they also are not our children: they are bold whereas parents are cowardly. They are bitter where their seniors have chosen to be comfortable. They badly want change where their parents are content. They are taking on a big war when their seniors have lost smaller ones. They are not "our children" because they do not look like us or think like us. They do not feel like us or act like us. Whose children are they then? They are children of freedom fighters. Different times, different arsenal. Same enemy but different soldiers. Freedom fighters beget warriors. "Our children" are our warriors. We wonder when they grew up! The wonder is a confession that their warrior status was not part of our parenting goals. It has only been a few days and Kenya is so inspired by the youth force. The renewed hope exceeds the existing tension. The courage of the young is awakening the integrity of the older and arousing humility in the powerful. The "cool" kids are turning on the heat to freeze the hot thieves. The street - not State House - is the new place of honour. How did the youth get here? They have been hearing things parents are not telling them; seeing what seniors block them from seeing. They have been decoding what is expressed in symbols. We keep them at home, but they long left home and gained a sense of country awareness. It is clear that what the young generation is asking for is not education on the Finance Bill. To them, the Bill is a symbol of oppression. Its extremes have pushed frustrations that have been building up over other issues to the tipping point. This triggered resistance as the young people seek a country of integrity and opportunity. They are clear that a culture of corruption should be rejected, not amended. In this assignment, we have seen institutions like the church and the pub singing the same song: reject! A lot has been said about youth numbers but little is talked about their minds. When their minds are talked about, it is about innovation in enterprise. They are considered a rich voter block but little is talked about their political thinking. Now their full force has landed. Social media is their idea laboratory and the street is their execution gateway. The web is their assembly centre and the street their launch pad to a new political dispensation. The amazing characteristic of this youth force is its heavy activity yet maintaining facelessness - only a big voice. The government was thrown out of balance as it applied the old "face theory" -that there must be faces to the agitating movement. The government lost the chase as it used the old "sponsor theory" - that such a youth effort must have a financier. But neither the leader nor the sponsor is known. This facelessness prompted the President to say "the people" of Kenya have spoken. There is no one to blame or acclaim. Clearly, this movement is beyond people - it is a spirit. Young people debated and refined their arguments online. There emerged the bold and uncompromising demand slogan "Reject and not amend." This demand seemed too ambitious because there was no path to victory. How would the President be persuaded to reject the bill? But the street protest got spirited enough for the President to drop his signing pen. The youth pleased the nation and the world with their peace-wrapped warrior ways. They did not need a threatening speech from the government to keep peace - peace is at the core of the movement. The characteristic chant "We are peaceful!" sang to the police was tear-jerking. Without turning the other cheek, the youth expected peace for peace. This has not been so. Armed only with passion, the young people were met with lethal force, opening graves that will not be forgotten. Though treated like animals, these children of the movement deserve to be buried as heroes-warriors who died for their country. These liberators should be branded first on the basis of their deeds. Youthfulness makes them appear as underdogs but their victories testify that they are experienced warriors. The government's retreat on the finance bill was not due to "our children" but due to "our warriors." Politicians may claim to have given in to honour the Gen Zs. But the truth is that Gen Z warriors pushed them to the point of surrender. If the government truly responded to the protesters as "children" they would not have rained bullets on them. These events redefine our young people as youthful yet elevated. They surpass age-appropriate cultural markers and function as they respond to a prophetic call. Their courage has become contagious, inspiring both peers and seniors. One thing is true - because of them, Kenya has a bolder citizenry! Within a week, clusters of cowards and fence-sitters have lost in numbers. They have boldly stated, "Church, we are coming for you!" Like kings Jehu and Hezekiah, these young people are coming to cleanse and not to destroy. They believe the church is of value but not in its present moral lull. They are on a mission to break the marriage between pastors and politicians. Like the angel of death in Egypt, they have one long night to slay Kenya's "firstborn" evils - corruption, oppression, deception and fractions. Every country has its battles and wears the look of the winners. May the youth win more of the battles they wage!

Our youth have made street, not State House, new place of honour

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