Despite prevailing difficulties, Gen Zs give us hope for a better tomorrow

Political analyst Professor Macharia Munene, during the interview with KTN News on 27th October 2021 at his home in Kahawa Sukari. [File, Standard]

There are positive signs that Kenya’s future is bright despite discouragements that dot the country. The many negatives include over-taxation, extra-judicial killings, abductions, and gross misappropriation of public funds. Regular reports about public money paying for ghost institutions or luxuries for top officials, as public services collapse, are disheartening. Such misdeeds create national despair as people watch in dismay and lose hope. There is, however, a flicker of encouragement arising from the youth, particularly in the solidarity that Gen Zs keep demonstrating.

The Gen Zs seemingly have fresh vigour and purpose that is political, socio-economic, intellectual, and techno savvy. They tend to attract the admiration and probable envy of older generations, beginning with their dot.com parents. The Gen Zs are daring, bold, fearless, and focused. In taking desperate actions to correct the misdeeds of their elders, they had three things going for them. First, as Mwai Kibaki’s children, they had a good education because they went to functioning schools, read books that challenged them to think, and their teachers taught.