- The youth, who are expected to participate in the talks, have declined the invite and blasted Raila for championing dialogue.
- According to news reports, a majority of these youth have said the crisis the country finds itself in currently does not need talks.
Ordinarily, a country’s leader is supposed to provide leadership on the country's direction and utilise the tools available to make that happen. Any leader worth their name in gold seamlessly does this, and everyone—well, nearly everyone—is at least satisfied the leader has done a good job even as he or she has fallen short in other areas.
The definition of failed leadership is what we have in the country now. The Gen Zs have not only showcased the failures of the present government, but they have already transformed the country without more.
There is nothing that instills fear in even the most hardcore or “tough” leaders than the prospect of walls collapsing around them.
The walls did not completely collapse around President William Ruto’s castle built on sand when Gen Zs took to the streets, but it was enough for him to realise how vulnerable he was.
So, where do we go from here? What comes of this Gen Z movement?
Yes, Ruto was forced to eat a humble pie and nip the much-hated Finance Bill. The shaken President has followed this with the announcement of a national dialogue in which he was joined by former Prime Minister and Azimio leader Raila Odinga who has given it his blessing.
The youth, who are expected to participate in the talks, have declined the invite and blasted Raila for championing dialogue. According to news reports, a majority of these youth have said the crisis the country finds itself in currently does not need talks; it needs the implementation of the Constitution. They criticised the Azimio boss on social media, saying they do not have a leader to represent them.
This is ill-advised on the part of these young people. Putting aside the fallacy that there can be an effective organisation without a leader, what must emerge and emerge quickly for Gen Z is an end game, both short-term and long-term.
Again, in one fundamental way, the short-term endgame has been accomplished by scaring the heck out of the President and his handlers.
Some wish to take this too far by claiming that the end game now should be ejecting Ruto from the State House. That may be a dream for some, but it is a bad dream on so many levels.
We are, or at least to the extent we have been trying to be, a country of laws. Even as the law has been flaunted and abused at the expense of good governance and democracy, the solution to holding government accountable is, first and foremost, our Parliament.
When Parliament fails as it has, what Gen Z has done is exactly what needs to happen and has happened. If the President was blinded before as not to see the extent of the anger and rage across the country, this action by Gen Z is a rude awakening for him to correct course.
If the President fails to do what many of us have proposed: reconstitute the government, confront corruption head-on, and use money recovered from corruption and other sources to create employment opportunities for the youth, then the solution cannot be the forceful ejection of Ruto from State House.
Rather, if the head of state were to be so tone-deaf and unresponsive to these demands to change the direction of the country, he would have a shell of a country to pretend as its leader in just enough time to be routed out of office in 2027.
On the other hand, if Ruto reconstitutes the government—and yes, that includes having a coalition government that does away with the pretence that only shareholders are to enjoy the fruits of government—then there is a good chance he can save face and at least remain relevant for 2027.
Meanwhile, even assuming he does the right thing and turns things around, Gen Z must morph into an even stronger political force in readiness for 2027. Their top priority must next be identifying not just their preferred presidential candidate but all other key elected positions, starting with members of the National Assembly.
Only then would this movement have an everlasting impact.