I Have Lost Faith with My Generation

Dear Otero:
I have always hoped that one day we shall rise as Kenyans of a new generation and say no to sacrilege from our politicians. I have always harbored immense hope in the youth of this country thinking that one day we shall come out of our political diapers and rescue this nation from the grips of these political demagogues who have thrived in bringing down the country. I thought that since we represent the future of this nation we ought to be at the forefront in fighting for our rightful place in our society and propel our agenda with sheer zeal. But I now realize that I’ll have to wait a little bit longer before this comes to pass.

We have spent the better part of our life as youths of this nation misusing ourselves or allowing ourselves to be misused by people who do not mean any good to us. We have been used to advance some causes that entirely do not reflect our roles in nation building or form a basis of our future. We have been relegated into menial roles in the society; roles that seek to discredit us and portray us as irresponsible members of the larger society who cannot be trusted with any meaningful role to play. I am beginning to think that this is a calculated move to reduce us into vermin and enable every Kibaki, Raila and Kalonzo to crush and reduce us into puppets to advance his political whim.

I am sad because we were used to barricade roads and burn the country in 2008 and we are still being used today to disrupt political gatherings. I am referring to an incident that happened some few days ago in my home county, Kitui. You might not be aware but I come from one of the areas in our county where the youth hold a misdirected agenda in their life. It is a society where majority of the youth are impoverished spiritually, academically and materially hence reducing them into courtiers of misplaced ideologies. They rely on handouts and other crumbs thrown at them by our leaders or their representatives. The political establishment in my society has impliedly promoted illiteracy among the youth by using semi-illiterate persons to represent the voice of the youth. These are the people who have been used to advance politics illiteracy in my constituency for decades. I am not surprised by this since senior policy makers in my constituency are barely literate! It is just a continuation of a generation!

So with this kind of youth leadership in Mwingi North, what happened last week was inevitable. How would one stone a government minister, a cabinet minister so to say, who was on a tour to asses the poverty level in the region unless one is gifted with an ounce of reasoning? What did Hon. Ngilu do to warrant stoning? Was it an offence for her to criticize the development record of the area MP and to speak out against the social injustices we have suffered in the last three decades?

I was amused to see a youthful councilor from Kyuso struggling to get to the dais to drag down the Hon. Minister as she addressed some poor villagers. This is barbaric and uncouth. Really if these are the leaders we expect to deliver Kyuso, I must say we should start looking somewhere else. Indeed I have lost faith with my generation, a generation that cannot stand tall and defend its motherland!

It is the high time the youth of this country realized that we hold the future of our motherland in our hands. It is time to rise up as Kenyans of a new generation and deliver this nation from its deathbed.