State must hasten to fix issues people have raised for decades

Carne Ross's 2011 book, The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Will Take Power and Change Politics in the 21st Century theorises that a leaderless revolution will launch in the 21st Century.

He, however, clarifies that “The leaderless revolution is not demanding the violent overthrow of government, or anything else. Everything worth changing can be changed without resorting to violence; this should be a gentle revolution, using force more lasting and convincing than any violence - our own actions and convictions.”

His book maps the 59 days between September 17 and November 15, 2011, of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement in Zuccotti Park, New York City. No one claimed the right to lead the Occupy Wall Street movement protests in which people demanded a change of leaders and the establishment of new laws. 

Fast forward to Kenya, June 18, 2024 — the Gen Z began an anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests that quickly snowballed into anti-government and later anti-Ruto protests. Their modus operadi said they had no leader and used "Occupy" as their tagline. 

Therefore, it could be a coincidence that those who breathed life into the movement are Carne Ross enthusiasts. Ross hypothesizes that the world will start experiencing this new order when the political class appears to be more part of the problem than the solution. 

The author further argues that at that time, politicians will be at the forefront of complaining about ‘politicians’. In short, the genesis of the stateless revolution will be a political blame game. Sounds familiar? First, the leaderless revolution will arise because the government has failed to fix things for the people. As such, the people will take the burden upon themselves, ignore the government, and exercise their sovereign authority. 

If the government fails to assure the people of social justice, they will reject the state, institutions, hierarchy, and authority as they seek greater agency. This means that governments must endeavour to correct past wrongs in the most innovative, timely, and creative ways possible. In Kenya, the potential pursuit of individual agency is contemplated in the preamble of our Constitution — “We, the people of Kenya…ADOPT, ENACT and give this Constitution to ourselves and to our future generations.” 

Therefore, according to Ross, a leaderless revolution has four entry points for conducting political affairs. Our government must take notes. The first entry point is where the action of one individual or a small group would trigger a rapid change throughout the whole system. That is why the government should be cautious when handling perceived saboteurs. It is on record that the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, triggered the chain of events that launched the First World War in August 1914.

The second entry point will be the perception that ordinary people are incapable of making intelligent decisions about their circumstances. Any government that plans to escape this revolution must appreciate that people know their circumstances best. Many Kenyan politicians and leaders, who apologised later, held this notion when Gen Z began their protests. They were ill-informed!

The third entry point is the lack of realisation that decision-making is better when it includes the people affected - it is the spirit of engagement and discussion. The president and other leaders have tried to embrace this aspect, but it seems the people have pilled anger, resentment, and hatred for the government. The president will have to consult widely to calm the storm so that he can set the country's affairs straight.

Lastly, a stateless revolution is triggered when people conclude that they have lost their agency - their ability to decide matters for themselves. Ross posits that the people will strive to regain this power and regain their dignity as human beings. Therefore, if the government wishes to curtail this revolution, it must hasten to fix issues people have raised for decades. This end cannot be achieved by merely replacing leaders, editing policy or blaming past regime mistakes. 

-Dr Ndonye, senior lecturer at Kabarak University’s Department of Mass Communication