Dear Youth,
"You are the leaders of tomorrow." I am sure we have heard this phrase countless number of times and somehow it always sounds right. Today
I want to challenge this rather popular
belief and infer to the Swahili saying
"msema kesho ni mwongo."
Truly, truly tomorrow never comes, we should act NOW!
Now is the time to be those leaders, not today evening or tomorrow, next month or next year but NOW!
For how long will we take shelter in our cocoons being too afraid to speak our mind? How long will we sit back and agree to be manipulated causing
chaos?
It is a crying shame that we always satisfy those who stereotype us as "rowdy" and "irresponsible".
Allow me take you back to the post election violence that rocked our nation between Dec 2007 and Jan 2008. The perils that came along with it can fill a whole book. It was gorry and quite frankly brought the nation to its knees.
The worst case scenario is that it is the
youth who were hired and used to
perpetrate it.
Recently we have witnessed the Tana River Delta clashes between the Pokomo and Oromo primarily because of water. The youth sorry to say are the ones who propagated the violence.
This was a crisis that could have been
mitigated calmly and peacefully to
satisfy both parties using mediation by
their leaders.
However it was not and the consequences were tragic leaving
hundreds of families displaced and the
young ones deeply traumatised.
Let's take a closer look at the political figures surrounding the whole issue. The chief for one is currently being held responsible of inciting the violence. The area member of parliament on the other hand is busy shifting blame to the minister of internal security.
This leaves me asking if we, the young
people in this nation, don't take a stand against the ethnic clashes and violence, who will?
Lord knows if we wait upon our
politicians, it will be a long, long and
painful wait and the lossses will be
tremendous.
Another recent incident is the
Mombasa riots protesting against the
assassination ofthe alleged Al-Shabab sympathizer, Sheikh Rogo.
Within just a period of just 2 days Mombasa has been turned upside down. It has drastically regressed from being an elite tourist hub to being a city in turmoil. Shops and businesses being closed down, banks being broken into and chrches being burnt down. The once peaceful city now has the sound of gunshots replacing the chirping birds in the air.
The incident is threatening to further
spark a war between Christians and
Muslims. This is the last thing our
already struggling economy and the
nation as a whole need. We should find peaceful ways of expressing our woes and not taking to the streets protesting violently. One group that am sure is very much pleased by the turn of events is the MRC movement of the"pwani si kenya" philosophy.
This is yet another disappointing
develoment when I look at the
contribution of the youth.
Touching lightly on the Miguna public
humiliation, he found himself jumping
into hot soup soon after his public
address trying to market his book in
Mombasa. He was harassed and
stripped of one shoe and his sgnature
hat. To add salt to injury, he was forced to stay hidden in one of the rooms in the building till the mayhem cooled down. Once again the main
perpetrators were young people.
We need to find respectable channels of expressing different opinions. A
channel that takes into account the
fundamental constitutional rights of a
Kenyan citizen.
For those who have a
bone to pick with Miguna in regards to
his book;keep in mind that he indeed
has the freedom of expression.
Kenya has a population of 38 million
and more than 70% comprises the
youth, shocking but also true. So
honestly i believe if we embraced the
"umoja ni nguvu" philosophy we can
truly be the change we want to see in
Kenya. The minute we stop shifting
blame to politicians and giving them
the keys to our destiny,then will we get the much needed revolutinary change.
One thing we should keep in mind is
that we have the power to bring about
change.
We have the powero vote in the right leaders to propel us to greatness
and give the boot to those who have failed us time and again.
Lastly i would like to urge the educated population who am sure are a good number of people to take
some time and mentor the rest. In most cases the majority of youth being manipulated to do these
chaotic acts are those who feel they have nothing to live for. It may be that they have no proper education thus no proper jobs.
Therefore, they wait upon and maximize on such opportunities as
mentioned above to make a coin or two from those more than willing to pay for their" services".
My last call, young Kenyans rise above the "ushenzi"
in our beloved country, say no to violence and tribalism and take an active stand in propagating change starting with yourself!
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