Youth, awake and challenge our two timing political old guard

Nothing aptly describes Kenya’s political old guard, now straddling the divide between government and the opposition, than the phrase, ‘a bunch of bananas’. Regardless of the circumstances, they bunch up, start green, end up yellow and are crooked.

These individuals have systematically emasculated this country in the last four decades and are now regrouping, angling to bunch up by shouting themselves hoarse over what needs to be done to put the country back on track. 

Longevity in politics notwithstanding, their actions mark them as greenhorns, unable to grasp the basics of effective leadership. They are vampires and leeches that continue to suck the blood out of gullible citizens through the proboscis of carefully prepared, packaged and delivered half truths.

At the end of the day, however, they are yellow. Cowards unwilling to face the realities of their ineptitude. Cowards who, by hook or crook, must maintain their stranglehold on power if only to feel safe and important. 

That this bunch of individuals is crooked is the most obvious thing. All the major scams and scandals in this country bear their fingerprints; Adani, theft of embassy land, Anglo leasing, cemetery land grabbing, Goldenberg, fake gold sçam, theft of public land, Triton, illegal logging, sugar and cooking oil scams, to name but a few.

Kenyans must stop admiring this bunch of bananas and eat it. Get it digested, excrete the waste and dump it in a dark pit in 2027. The urgency in this cannot be gainsaid, especially now that vested interests and behind-the-scenes political machinations expose the country to appropriation by two individuals and their ever loyal acolytes.

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For a long time, ordinary Kenyans have been fooled into believing their leaders have their interests at heart, but that has been the longest con game in our history. Citizens are mere stepping stones to power and influence for politicians, which must now change. 

Looming coalition

It is not clear who, between President William Ruto and Raila Odinga, has the handle on the other, but there are indications of a looming coalition that primarily benefits the two. First, it will give Ruto peace of mind knowing that the man with the poisoned dart is tucked away in bed in a locked room. 

Raila is a loose cannon that must be handled carefully. Some want him to stick with Ruto while others want him to go back to the trenches. It is perhaps in trying to stop Raila from falling into his default position that Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei suggests the full implementation of the National Dialogue Committee report by amending the 2010 Constitution to create the office of the prime minister and allow Raila to serve and be neutered in that capacity.

Second, it will help Raila get the only thing he craves; power. Raila is affluent. There are no material things he lacks, or ones he cannot afford, but he craves that heady feeling that only power can induce. A powerful position in government that gives the illusion of a parallel centre of power will keep him and the puppies on his ‘tits’ happy. 

However, the youth must claim their place by mounting a formidable challenge on the status quo. ‘Youth are leaders of tomorrow’ is a cliche that ran the gamut of deceit and walked into a cul-de-sac on June 25, 2024.  

The time for Kenyan youth to claim leadership is now, but the old guard will not give it to them on a silver platter. Power, as once told by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, is taken, not given. The events of June 25, 2024 that forced a change of Cabinet and the shelving of the Finance Bill 2024 speak of the power the youth hold, and should be put to good use.

In just two years, the Kenya Kwanza administration has run everything we believed in aground. Critical sectors like education, health, security, foreign affairs and social services are comatose. 

There are no attempts to put them on oxygen, allowing the Judiciary to drive nail after nail in the coffins of these sectors because the government is blunder-prone.