A need for change in the Guard
- Thread starter Young_Turk
- Start date
Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
Ati hao young turks wanaitisha suruali kutoka wapi?
Youthful leaders fight for space as Young Turks of 90s call the shorts from behind
POLITICS
By Lillian Aluanga-Delvaux and Steve Mkawale | August 14th 2016
ODM leader Raila Odinga (L) and former ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba (R). While announcing his resignation as ODM Secretary General, Namwamba cited “frustration” from the party. (PHOTO: COURTESY)
Way back in early 1991, a group of youthful politicians convened a series of meetings to push for change in governance.
Notable members included lawyers Paul Muite and James Orengo, politicians Raila Odinga, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o and Joe Ager. The aim of the youthful politicians – later joined by Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and lawyer Gitobu Imanyara – was to push for multi-party democracy in Kenya. At the time, Kenya was a one-party State.
Youthful leaders fight for space as Young Turks of 90s call the shorts from behind
POLITICS
By Lillian Aluanga-Delvaux and Steve Mkawale | August 14th 2016
ODM leader Raila Odinga (L) and former ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba (R). While announcing his resignation as ODM Secretary General, Namwamba cited “frustration” from the party. (PHOTO: COURTESY)
Way back in early 1991, a group of youthful politicians convened a series of meetings to push for change in governance.
Notable members included lawyers Paul Muite and James Orengo, politicians Raila Odinga, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o and Joe Ager. The aim of the youthful politicians – later joined by Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and lawyer Gitobu Imanyara – was to push for multi-party democracy in Kenya. At the time, Kenya was a one-party State.
Young_Turk
Elder Lister
Great question. I'd like to defer to the article.
No cause
“While there are some leaders who genuinely look at such a platform based on what cause they can address, many see it as an avenue to get rich,” adds Wamwere. The seeming lack of staying power, according to Kenyatta University lecturer Dr Edward Kisiangáni, has seen the emergence of a crop of youthful leaders that has little or no capacity to commit to a cause.
“Many ascribe to political parties that have no values and cannot operate beyond ethnic lines. They have been sucked into the hero worship of party leaders and an intellectual grasp of ideology is lacking among many of them,” he says. He believes the system of education could be a factor. For Senator Martha Wangari, who was nominated on a UDF ticket, lack of consistency among the youthful leadership has hurt their profile. “It’s also hard for a young person to be the owner or driver of a party given what is involved in setting up such an outfit. This means most times youthful leaders are pushed to the periphery,” she says. So is there a cause that unifies the youthful leaders?
“We have done a lot in pushing the youth agenda through Bills on unemployment, education, public procurement and reproductive health,” says Wangari. Mutula concedes there was a thinking at some point among the young leaders to support each other across the political divide, but this failed. “Probably because of the fear that if you were seen associating with certain politicians, then you would be perceived as having defected or had been bought,” he says.
Former political detainee and ODM Director of Strategy, Wafula Buke likens the behaviour of some young politicians to the biblical story of manna falling from heaven. “Opportunities are not necessarily good when one is on a journey because they can derail you. Most of today’s leadership has been derailed by manna that dropped, courtesy of the youthful leaders of my time. We now have people who think they can evolve into leaders overnight.” he says.