After rejection of Finance Bill, youths must now list as voters

We painfully and sorrowfully mourn the innocent lives of protesters, Generation Z at the hands of security personnel, may their souls rest in peace, amen. May all those injured recover fully and quickly. Those arrested for protesting or abducted must be released unconditionally.

Our security officers must defend and protect not to harass and carry extrajudicial killings as recently witnessed. They must be prosecuted and punished for targeting unarmed civilians exercising their constitutional rights, to end impunity and ensure accountability.

Those who took advantage of the protests to loot, steal or damage property should be prosecuted but the government should not target innocent protesters in this exercise. Let the government not militarise Kenya, it is very dangerous.

There are many lessons to draw from the Gen Z heroic rejection of the Bill protests. We learned that our (Gen X) children (Gen Z) are fearless and tribeless. This reminded me of a call from an irritated Census Enumerator years back complaining of my children’s response to her question of what tribe they were. They had said they were Kenyans and that “tribe was a new hotel at Village Market,” believing it to be a trick question.

Years later, our children don’t know the tribes of their friends. This does not mean Gen Z are tribeless and do not value diversity, it just means that tribe is not how they judge those they relate with because to them, a person's worth is determined by the content of his/her character and whether they resonate with them. It also means tribe is not a qualification for anything.

Gen Z value humanity, honesty, integrity and meritocracy. This is the reason for their mistrust and lack of confidence in most politicians, whom they consider to be pathological liars. They were not afraid as they chanted “when we lose our fear, they lose their power, and we are peaceful,” as they protested.

Many of us involved in the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1992, in removing KANU from power in 2002 and in achieving our Constitution, 2010, believed excessive use of force, extra-judicial killings, abductions and disappearances orchestrated by security officers, uniformed and in plainclothes, witnessed in the last two weeks, would never happen in Kenya again. But they did; we must ensure eternal vigilance on our constitution and the rule of law.

Robert Greene tells us to plan and execute everything all the way to the end. Once you achieve your goal, he urges us to resist doing things we did not plan. If Gen Z had planned to reject the Finance Bill 2024, although we have to wait and see what Parliament does, that goal may have been achieved. If their plan includes recall of the 204 Members of Parliament (MPs) who voted ‘yes’ for the Bill, then the President needs to urgently assent to the IEBC Amendment Bill, 2024 to facilitate the reconstitution of the IEBC for Commissioners to receive the petitions for the recall of the Yes-MPs.

I am urging Gen Z to go out now to all IEBC offices and register as voters in huge numbers. In 2005/06 we led a project, Vijana tugutuke, ni time yetu campaign which contributed to the registration of many youth voters who vied and voted in the 2007 general elections. Your vote should be the strongest instrument/tool for the change you want to see.

You have proved to us that you are resolute and do not need anyone to pay/buy you to transform our world. You have demonstrated your power to mobilise yourselves and resources to do what must be done resolutely. Capitalise on that, get registered and come out in huge numbers and choose leaders of integrity who will implement the constitution, respect human rights, rule of law, end negative ethnicity, corruption and ensure accountability, good governance and integrity in the management of our public affairs.

Lastly, it is important to learn history to ensure mistakes are not repeated and to remember the freedoms/liberties we enjoy today result from the sweat, blood and labour of our independence fore-parents and from us, proud to hoist you high, to protect and support your successful transformation of our beloved country.

-Koki Muli-Grignon, a Democracy, Governance, and Elections Expert works for South Eastern Kenya University in Kitui County