Oh yes, your time has come, write your future with courage

What a week it has been. And how fortunate I was to have been alive to witness the young people of this country fearlessly, bravely and resolutely say ‘No’ to, and stand up to oppressive governance.

We held collective breath as a Nation, tribe and political affiliation forgotten, as this generation took to the streets across the country, risking their lives to force the government to reject the controversial Finance Bill 2024 that proposed a number of tax hikes, including taxation of essential commodities.

Successfully pushing the #RejectFinanceBill2024, they came out in their thousands, and within a few days, managed to do what everyone else had been unable to do – force the President to reject the Finance Bill.

But this triumph came at a great cost, the cost of life. As I write this, it is yet to be determined exactly how many lives have been lost in the protests, but even one life is too big a blow. No life should have been lost, and my heart goes out to the families and friends of the young people that the country lost.

Being in the media gave me and my colleagues a frontline seat of the protests. Many of my colleagues were out there in the streets in the midst of the protestors, and each time they returned to file their stories and upload their pictures and videos, they needed not say that they had witnessed history in the making because it was written on their faces. The power of social media came to the fore once again.

Thanks to far-reaching access and the instant messaging of social media, the young people of this country, who are better informed than past generations of agitators of social change, were able to aggressively push the message and amass themselves from all corners of the country.

And it was a sight to behold. Kenyans, young and old, male and female, rallied behind them and cheered them on. Their parents too, though apprehensive about their safety, supported them, some even took to the streets with them. Behold a new era for activism!

Corruption

I cannot begin to explain how inspiring and encouraging it is to know that the future of this country is in good hands, and that there is a generation that genuinely and passionately cares about Kenya and how it is run. That there is a generation that abhors corruption, abuse of the rule of law, a generation that frowns on excesses, a generation that despises tribalism, a cancer which has been one of the major causes of underdevelopment in the Kenya.

Come the next General Election, I have no doubt that the youth of Kenya, buoyed by this momentous achievement, will come out to vote in numbers never seen before. Kenya’s population is a youthful one with over 80 percent aged 35 years and below, and herein lies immense power capable of changing the politics of this country for good. A huge percentage of this number is unemployed and feels neglected where access to opportunities, representation and participation is concerned.

The resounding win on Wednesday this week was immensely important because this generation has finally realised just how influential and formidable they are, and how capable they are to determine their future. It is your time, your time has come, don’t relent.

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