This past week saw the political class turbo-charge their brutalisation of the young people of this country. The clarion call has become “Asiyefunzwa na mamaye, hufunzwa na ulimwengu” to suggest that the repressive power of the State will be deployed to break the bones of young people who stand up to this regime’s excesses. The condemnation has been vocal and coordinated.
The good part is that it didn’t find us, the young people, naïve about the forces arrayed against us. We would have lowered our faces in shame if the rebuke came from moral models. But going by the public track record of the people threatening us with fire and brimstone, you can’t help but laugh at how accurate the expression “The pot calling the kettle black" can be.
But we remain unfazed for this regime continues to demystify any pretence that its anchored on some high ideals than past administrations. So many people had hoped that William Ruto, for his fabulous brilliance, would summon the philosophical courage to banish the conventional political wisdom that a king must kill the kingmaker. But what he has done? He has not only killed the kingmaker but also the spirit of the kingmaker.
For avoidance of doubt, the kingmakers, in the crafting of Kenya Kwanza government, were the young people. The clarion call “Every hustle matters” was the UDA version of “Yes We Can”. I know for a fact that nobody in that brilliantly run campaign believed that run-off the mill slogan whose Swahili version was 'Kazi ni kazi'. Just any hustle can not matter. Primary work must provide, above all else, dignity. What that means is that whatever one does, they can provide a roof over their heads, they have food and they have access to healthcare. A hustle, which was the UDA definition of work, again matters only if it avails the promise of upward social mobility.
As we speak, we all know that Kenya Kwanza policies have not resulted in any of the two things above. Their first major policy intervention, the Hustler Fund, was predicated on so much economic romanticism and with the first political winds sweeping in its direction, it came tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.
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As the time of writing this column, more than half of Hustler Fund borrowers have defaulted. This is because all the money that is borrowed is used to meet pressing needs as small and medium enterprises go belly up in large part due to a mindless tax regime that punishes those at the base of the pyramid while padding the pockets of the wealthy and the powerful.
This regime has turned the immense powers of monopoly of violence on so many young people and their loved ones. The brutalisation continues in the streets even as the economic brutalisation continues. After the President’s many years in politics, after June 25, 2024, he does not need to get irked by the “Ruto must go” online chants. He still has two solid years to build a track record upon which we would judge him. But it seems all is not well in the palace.
That panic is what informs the what looks like an early campaign that has already kicked off. We all know how it will impact service delivery. But I think that with the new realignments, President Ruto only needs to deliver and the people would reward him as all performers are rewarded.
As for the young people, I think that all that the political class characterise as indiscipline is a generational cry for help. A people with very little to smile about and the President must not let his overzealous court jesters to brutalise them. For him and only him was given the mandate.
Mr Kidi is the convener Inter-Parties Youth Forum. kidimwaga@gmail.com