Undercurrents of public displeasure with the government are evident

From June to August, Gen-Zs, blending with the slightly older Millennials, dominated local and international news.

They competed with Gaza and Ukraine as assorted analysts struggled to explain what had happened. Government officials were apparently not prepared for the uprisings, probably because they lacked capacity to understand signs that were visibly there. This incapacity was connected to displays of arrogance of power, seeming glorification of ignorance and incompetence, and show of disdain for ‘people’.

Although no amount of warnings that all was not well could persuade those officials to pay attention to grievances, the uprising woke them up. To their credit, the strategists among them found ways of deflating the youth balloon by appearing to concede to peripheral issues.

There was semblance of forced change that simply underlay continuity of old but slightly modified behaviour among top officials and cronies. As a result of both the uprising and the deflating, those who are good at exploiting chaos and crises benefitted. The officials then felt comfortable enough to start returning to the old ways with the same old cronies and players.

There were, however, visible changes despite continuity. The judiciary became increasingly assertive in upholding and being protector of public interests over executive excesses. This had the effect of undermining those Gen Z ‘revolutionary’ activists whose dreams went beyond protests and correcting official wrongs.

There were also increased reflections among some officials and emerging ‘think tanks’ as to what had happened and what to do. These tended to offer and repeat the usual technical reasons as explanations, which included the youth bulge, mass joblessness due to misplaced education emphasis, and the youth having unrealistic expectations. All these were excuses for failure to address the reason for the uprising.

The excuses often miss the crucial reality that the problem is usually more than technical. It was at the top where a clash of mind and expectation occurred between two entities.

First was the critical thinking youth challenging the status quo and second was the inward looking ‘Hustler Grandees’ playing policy makers and advancing three inter-connected national evils: cronyism, ignorance, and incompetence.

With the three evils promoting poverty creation instead of wealth production, shrinking the economy instead of opening up areas of fresh investments, and undermining free thought instead of enabling critical thinking, a clash was inevitable.

Since such people in high office cannot produce policies that protect national interests, they instead reportedly surrender, sell, or lease national institutions and assets to foreign entities that might be ‘friendly’ to powerful individuals.

The presumed reality of the ‘surrender’ disillusioned critical thinking youth whose minds collided with the behaviour of the select privileged who take ordinary people for granted.

To regain the political upper hand, President William Ruto and Deputy Rigathi Gachagua went back to the 2022 political campaign mood, patched up their seemingly torn relations, infiltrated the rival Azimio political outfit, and even convinced an eager Raila Odinga to abandon the Gen Zs and to donate ODM men to serve Ruto’s broad based government.

In doing so, Raila replayed the 1997 IPPG deal when recognised political leaders like himself, irrespective of political parties, ganged up to undermine ‘revolutionary’ party less uprisings. The ever adaptive Raila essentially joined Ruto in containing the Gen Zs for upstaging him as the acknowledged ‘Maandamano’ mobiliser'.

With the Gen Z uprising defused, Ruto’s behaviour raises questions as to what he learned. While he and Gachagua are ‘happy’, the undercurrents of unhappiness abound.

Adverse socio-economic and political dynamics might hit the country again and the Gen Zs may not be the catalysts the next time. Since the disillusionment ingredients are still there for harnessing, responding is a mind power play, not technical.