Morara, other activists in change bid must grow thick skin

Social media is a double-edged sword on which the voices of change will succeed or fail.

It is the place where the Gen-Z conversation started, but it also seems like the place where the movement will cannibalise itself with pettiness.

Civil educator Morara Kebaso cannot say Kenya ni Home in peace. Photos of his dalliance with the Jubilee administration will be fished out in a flush.

Mercy Tarus has already been labelled a sellout just because she raised her concerns. Kasmuel cannot bump into Kenya Kwanza luminaries in his social engagements, and if he does, it is a problem.

Every time Babu Owino opens his mouth, he is reminded that if he cannot be trusted with a gun, he cannot be trusted with Kenya.

You all know what comes up when one Fred Matiang’i is mentioned. If it is not the Utawala land, it is the legitimate concern for his era as minister for Internal Security.

Even darlings such as Okiya Omtata and Edwin Sifuna have found themselves on the rough side of things on Twitter.

However, we must agree that the people who would lead Kenya into the future will not be without flaws.

If we decide today to seek perfection among the many that have presented themselves as voices of change, we might as well let those in power continue leading us for eternity.

The movement for change birthed out of the Gen-Z-led revolution must not be derailed with pettiness.

Human beings go through many phases before they find their purpose. Some fund it earlier on but lose along the way.

Either way, a human being living in an imperfect society can only set standards for himself but for society and the company he finds himself in.

When Mwai Kibaki rode on the clamour for change to become president in 2002, he was well in his seventies. If age had been held against him, he would have failed badly.

However, that is even the minor part. In 1992, Kibaki had been accused of being a spoiler for Kenneth Matiba, who would have had an easy time flooring President Moi.

Actually, some political commentaries have it that he was packaged by the international community to dilute the opposition block of votes. Kibaki had also served in the same government he fought to dislodge from power in no less a position than that of Vice President.

It would have even been easy to associate him with the failures of that government. However, at that moment, none of that history mattered. He was the man of the moment, imperfect as he was. 

All the people now being mentioned in the political space as possible leaders of the change movement must have their chance as long as they prove their commitment.

That does not mean we lower the bar to accommodate pretenders and people whose history does not offer any hope.

It does not mean that people must not be put to task for their records. However, we must be guarded lest the opportunity gets lost as we wait for the perfect ones to be born.

-The writer is a communications consultant