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Kenya is finally ‘Coming to Birth’. This is one phrase that is synonymous to my four years of high school in Maranda, a piece that documented the colonial and post-colonial era in Kenya and the transformative agenda in our societal values and general development. Just like any developing nation, Kenya has struggled through a path of self-realization with most emphasis being laid on education. Unlike in the developed world, Kenya has had a slow pace of development since attaining independence half a century ago. Nevertheless, Kenya has made great strides in almost all spheres of life and today we rank among the best nations in Africa.
At independence, our founding president, the Late MzeeJomo Kenyatta zeroed in into three major challenges ‘Poverty, Diseases and Illiteracy’. All Kenyans were called upon to take the necessary steps to exorcise these three demons. It has always been my opinion that alleviating illiteracy as a preventive measure should have been given more attention to mitigate further incidences of diseases and build the economy both at the individual and national levels.
Luckily enough, at independence, Kenya was not short of scholars. Our founding father and all his successors are renowned scholars some of whom had the chance to acquire the much coveted over-the-seas education. To be educated during the early decades of independence was however a rare opportunity.The larger population attained the basicsand only a few fortunate proceeded to high schools and higher institutions of learning. The evil culture of shutting all available doors to many so as to remain unchallenged in society was an important tool of political supremacy and more rampant in those years.
Today, there has been a dynamic and radical shift in our education system. Slightly before and after the free and compulsory primary education, the present youth is incomparable to the post-colonial youth. Besides his rich knowledge, the present youth is globalized and has the capability of adopting new knowledge with the click of a button. It therefore suffices to say that the present youth is fully aware of the challenges before him, well prepared, composed, focused, smart and best fit to lead the society.
During his visit to Kenya, the leader of the free world Barack Obama said, “And when it comes to the people of Kenya, particularly the youth, I believe there is no limit to what you can achieve. A young, ambitious Kenyan today should not have to do what my grandfather did, and serve a foreign master…We are investing in youth. We are investing in the young people of Kenya and the young people of this continent.”….“So through our Young African Leaders Initiative we are empowering and connecting young people from across the continent that are filled with energy and optimism and idealism, and are going to take Africa to new heights. And these young people are not weighted down by the old ways. They’re creating a new path. And these are the elements for success in this 21st century.”
Barry further quoted Robert F. Kennedy who once said, “It is a revolutionary world that we live in,” and “it is the young people who must take the lead.”
It cannot be that the Baby Boomers born in the years before the 1960s continue to occupy leadership positions in present day society. The ‘X’ generation, born in the late 1960s up to the early 1980s risks a leadership gap. These youths of the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century may have been barred by circumstances or shied away from the call to leadership leaving the Baby Boomers to dominate the political scene; it begs us now to right these wrongs.
It is not even debatable to say that the youth form the majority of voters at any instance of an election, at least for a country with consistent demographics. Year after year, teens hit the point of majority age and add up to the huge voting block of youths between the years of 18 and 35. In a democratic society,leaders are chosen by majority vote so as to address the concerns of the same majority. Just as the education syllabus keeps mutating to address new developments, so should leadership. The old are not better placed to address the ideals of the youths. The old cannot cope with the speed of events in modern day society. The old have the slightest idea of the global village concept, which is why they would rather burn millions in foreign trips for knowledge that is readily available on our hand-held devices. The old are quite conservative and therefore not likely to bring the much needed change.
There is no such troubled sector of the society as the youth nation. For lack of opportunities, youths have been rendered jobless. Job seeking has almost become a full time job, albeit without pay. To create these opportunities, our society needs a complete change of our mindset. Brilliant youths must occupy leadership positions and save the youth nation before we lose most of them to terrorism and related vices.
My fellow youths, it concerns us to utilize our electoral rights as our only tool to redemption. We must abhor the culture of handouts, bribery and the politics of the ethnic card. Of importance to us is to appreciatethe doctrine of the secret ballot. We have the key to unlock our potential; we cannot afford to be our own enemies! Yes Youth Can!
The writer is a Scholar in Public Administration and Political Science.