I am soon celebrating a milestone birthday, God willing. As I look back all the years from my youthful days, I cannot help but feel even more sorry for the youth of today.
At least when growing up, our parents, even those with little or no means had a way to provide for their children and for those of us whose parents were doing better than others on average, we practically lived as if it was heaven on earth.
There was little worry about tomorrow, and if you were the youngest in the family in boarding school, you skimmed a way to collect pocket money from your parents and all your older siblings such that by the time you were back to school, you were a small tycoon. None of the kids in high school or university now can relate to this but having a mere 100 bob in your pocket you were deemed rich and could get just about anything you wanted around you.
In case you’re wondering, I am talking about growing up in the 70s and early 80s. When I say getting just about anything you wanted for 100 bob, there was little a young lad wanted other than going to a cinema with their girlfriends for those in the cities or just hanging out and devouring some tasty mandazis at a local hotel for those in the villages. Notice I have not said there was nothing a young girl needed because, given our societal norms, that was neither here nor there.
There was nothing else to distract you from your books, which we all knew had to be conquered to make it in life, and those who succeeded made it in life—and often majorly.
I am tempted to say those were the golden days of our country, but the optimist I am, I want to believe, notwithstanding all these monumental letdowns by a slew of corrupt and inept leaders, Kenya can still emerge better than its glorious past.
That re-emergence starts with the awakening of our youth, who I continue to say are the sleeping elephant in the room come 2027.
But several things must happen to wake up this sleeping giant in the room. For one, the youth themselves must wake up to the reality their destinies are in their hands, and being proactive in politics is the least they can do to get started.
That is a tall order in itself because youth apathy and poor participation in elections is a universal problem though other countries have found ways to excite and have the youth actively involved in politics.
In the US, for example, former President Barack Obama is credited for creatively reaching out to young voters in 2008 and floored his opponent by capturing 66 per cent of their vote.
In Kenya, youth apathy problem is still acute with no breakthrough on sight.
According to the IEBC, the quasi-electoral management agency has been trying to get young adults who have become eligible to vote to do so in successive polls but the results have been dismal.
However, that can only be taken with a grain of salt because we know there have also been efforts by backward politicians to prevent, frustrate, or otherwise thwart the registration of large numbers among the youth.
This must change come 2027.
The question is, who shall take the lead in making sure that is the case?
A natural choice would be civil society, but this begs the question do we have a civil society as effective and alive as years past?
The answer is a resounding No.
Is it therefore hopeless? The answer is also a resounding No.
All the tools are there to reignite and re-equip civil society and if the church were to get out of the slumber and refuse to be led astray, we can surely have a reemergence of Kenya to at least its glorious past.
This must be the hope and prayer for anyone who cares about our beloved country.
Anything less would be a shame, as that would allow the country to continue wallowing in this level of misery for millions.