Gen Z will have last laugh if they register as voters, remain united

Protestors react to a tear-gas canister thrown to them by Kenyan anti-riot police during Nane Nane demonstration in Nairobi on August 8, 2024. [AFP]

An organic revolution always births an organic leader. In June and July, Kenya experienced a Gen Z revolution touted as leaderless.

Actually, I think what they were not telling us in their narrative of leaderlessness was that they did not want the current leaders to take advantage of their course of action.

Moreover, they were aware that no leader, whether in government or opposition, was outside the system that they perceived as oppressive and inconsiderate of the affairs of other citizens.

Whether in or outside the government, top politicians in any ruling system have the same objective.

In most cases, revolutions are leaderless, especially those started by the people and not by political institutions like the opposition. However, any organic revolution without a leader finds leaders growing amongst the revolutionaries.

That’s why the Gen Z-initiated anti-government revolution is birthing the likes of Kasmuel McOure in the same order.

For any meaningful negotiation and social contract to happen in an administrative system, a person or a few persons must be on the rudder. There is nothing like ruling by the people—everyone needs someone to speak on their behalf and show them direction.

Political systems are organised around a leader. It is this leader they listen to and whose direction they take as he speaks on their behalf.

In short, leaderless revolutions have no leader as long as no one speaks their language, walks their aspiration, inspires them, and stands out in a group.

This political chessboard column has read Nicollo Machiavelli’s wisdom on this matter several times.

Machiavelli’s thesis, in our context, is that a president cannot, without injury to others, satisfy his political cronies (in government or opposition), but he can satisfy the people, for their objective is more righteous than that of the politicians who wish to oppress, while the people only desire not to be oppressed.

For this reason, the majority of the productive population, the Gen Zs and the millennials have been pushing against the oppressive tax regime that has been building progressively under the last two regimes.

But can the Gen Zs continue without a leader? Most insist so. Pundits argue that the Gen Z revolution benefitted the opposition, which was ultimately given slots in Ruto’s government.

Things seem to simmer. But there is another side to this story.

If Gen Zs were ready to transform a country, they should provide an alternative if they propose to send home a government.

If President Ruto wanted to incorporate some of these into his administration, there was none. That’s why the president should probably chose an organised body ready to be tasked with governance and an administration that requires a quick fix.

What went wrong then? The Gen Z revolution was organic, and it caught them unprepared and with little sense of direction on what they really wanted to achieve in the end.

However, the revolution is rising, and Gen Zs and millennials are likely to have the last laugh in the next few decades if they keep united. Some radical leaders of the revolution rose, and, in a few weeks, they sank.

Some who came later, like Kasmuel McOure, are showing signs of enduring—that young man who seems to inspire Kenyans across generations for his eloquence, gifts, and courage.

For the last few weeks, he has appeared in several news media interviews, and Kenyans have termed him Gen Z’s Tom Mboya.

He has openly said that he will be in elective leadership in 2027. The initial organizers of the Gen Z protests that fell the Finance Bill 2024 did not make such a decision.

That way, he has gone the extra mile to present himself for the 2027 elections. Although he has not stated in which capacity he will contest, I think McOure is an archetype of visionary Gen Zs and millennials.

So, to bring about the transformation they desire in this country’s governance, Gen Zs and millennials must register as voters and seek elective posts in the next general elections.

Dr Ndonye is a senior lecturer at Kabarak University’s Department of Mass Communication