I delight in the wisdom of my ancestors embodied in my grandmother Sabina Oyoya nyar-Ogara. Leaning her back on the granary, as she sat cross-legged facing the setting sun, her pipe smouldering lazily in her lips, she once told me: ng’ato koloyi gi rieko to idende ni mkora (anybody whose ways are superior to yours is often dubbed a criminal).
Someone is selling a narrative that Gachagua (of all people) is behind the Gen Z movement.
This is an outrageous fallacy as the son of Mau-mau has severally demonstrated a severe lack of the subtlety and mastery necessary to pull anything half as digitally sophisticated. The art of digital warfare therefore would be as alien to him as it was to Sabina Oyoya nyar-Ogara, may her soul rest in peace.
In any event if Gachagua can pull such a magnificent internet heist then so can his boss, who is decidedly superior in matters Machiavellian.
AdvertGovernment propaganda machinery is sleek and well refined. By using the animosity between President Ruto and his Deputy they can turn this thing into a Gachagua affair and by extension a Mount Kenya gig thereby delineating the rest of Kenyan Youth.
But what is even more outrageous are claims that the movement has been hijacked by an unnamed former president as some sections of the media claim or by criminals as the government claims. Both claims are, surprisingly, not new, though, in explaining away the inexplicable and at times confounding phenomenon Kenyan politics always turns out to be– it’s usually or always the plotting of politicians or their close cousins, the crooks. This hypothesis is therefore standard fare.
Yet, Gen Z have proudly stood aloft confounding all political pundits from here to Dar-es-saalam. They have refused to coalesce into tribal, class or sectarian units. They are fluid, they are smart, leaderless, tec-savvy youth whose love of law and order can be evidenced in the relentless pursuit of justice through peaceful means. Yes, only Gen Z can truly assert that their leaders are Jacob Juma and Msando and rest at that; egoistic politicians would by now have shown their hand claiming plaudits in this movement and preening this way and that way before press cameras.
Now, Sabina Oyoya nyar-Ogara, if she was still alive, would have asked Kenyans some real earthshaking questions.
One. The Gen Z are turning out in yet greater numbers each day in protests across the country while the number of police officers in Kenya remains the same. What will happen when they overrun the police?
Two. What began as anti-tax demonstrations have systematically morphed into anti-government protests with the rallying call being Ruto must go. So, what happens if for some yet-to-be-fathomed reason the Head of State acquiesces to their demands and resigns? Remember they don’t have a leader and State House cannot be occupied by a whole generation of people. What would be the political or government centre of command? (And please don’t sell me that bullshit that Gen Z are not smart enough to see that Babu Owino is only presidential material for SONU, not for GOK), Sabina Oyoya nyar-Ogara would say.
I delight in the wisdom of my ancestors the Nabukaki who arrived on the shores of Lake Kanyaboli from Manyala many centuries ago. There are things we see sitting that other men cannot see standing.
For instance, the vandalism that took place at the construction site of the Modern Siaya Market yesterday had an indelible imprint of criminals and their cousins politicians.
It had nothing to do with Gen Z and if you doubt me make quick comparisons with the civil protests carried out by genuine members of Gen Z in other parts of Kenya.
For now, pass my sincere greetings to the gallant sons and pretty daughters of Siaya County. Whatever they are doing stopping business in the one-horse-stop, called a town, has been noted as their rustic way of contributing to change. Tell them anything else you feel like telling them.
What’s for sure is that there’s a new wind of change blowing and it has now exposed the anus of the lying cockerel. Yes, I still delight in the wisdom of my ancestors embodied in my grandmother Sabina Oyoya nyar-Ogara who insisted on the appropriate use of language and synonyms.
For now, I’ve said it and rested!
DalanewsKe
Editorial Wednesday 3 July, 2024
