UDA political operative and security expert
Abdikadir Dekow at Mkomani, Nyali on Friday / BRIAN OTIENOSecurity expert Abdikadir Dekow has challenged
youth to rally themselves and take advantage of their numbers to demand better
leadership in their localities.
Dekow, a UDA operative, said the youth in the
country can push the country to greater heights if only they remain focused and
have vision.
“It is high time youth make their voice known
either through seeking leadership positions themselves or by pushing one of their
own who will be loyal to them,” the former security officer said.
Speaking to the Star on Friday, Dekow said young
people should learn resilience and ambition from President William Ruto’s story
from a chicken seller to the Presidency.
Young people, he said, are today afraid to get
their hands dirty and only look for the diminishing white caller jobs despite
being many opportunities to earn a living through other jobs.
“Today, there are many opportunities in the
creative economy where young people can earn decent money.
“These are opportunities that are there for the
taken, and things have been made easier through the many funds set up by the
government where they can take loans and grants,” Dekow said.
Sports too, has become an avenue where one can earn
through their own talent, with the government setting structures to harness
these talents.
He said without taking advantage of such
creativity, opportunities and efforts, youth will be frustrated and end up
being misused by politicians or resort to a life of crime.
Goonism, Dekow said, has been created by idle
youth being available to be misused because they have not done anything
meaningful with their talents, opportunities, and lives.
“Whenever you see
goons, it is always young people involved. This is because anyone who is hungry
is vulnerable to misuse,” he said.
On the broad-based arrangement, Dekow said many
people have not understood the reasoning behind it.
He said the arrangement was meant to bring
inclusivity so that Kenya benefits from ideas from different people.
“There are many people who want positions so they
can implement their ideas, which may be brilliant ones. But not all those who
have brilliant ideas get the opportunity to be elected so as to implement them.
“Thus, President William Ruto felt it was
important to have these people who are not lucky to be elected into positions
but have brilliant ideas to bring them close so those brilliant ideas can be
implemented through his administration. This way, it is a win-win situation,”
Dekow said.
He said many people think President Ruto came up
with the idea to win his second term.
“That is not it. The President will definitely
have his two terms. Everybody in the world knows that a mother has two breasts
to feed a child.
“The President has already fed us with one breast.
Now he needs to feed us through the second breast,” Dekow said.
The political operative, who has trained his eyes
on the Nyali MP seat, has criticized the zoning idea being propagated by the
ODM party under the broad-based arrangement.
He said zoning violates the constitution which
guarantees every Kenyan the right to seek an elective post anywhere in the
country.
“It violates the civic rights of every Kenyan who
wants a particular person to be their leader in a particular area.
“You cannot shove into my throat a leader who I do
not like because they are in a particular party. I must be given an opportunity
to vote for the leader I want,” Dekow said.
He said the propagators of zoning are cowards who fear competition for their seats.
INSTANT ANALYSIS:
About 67 per cent of Kenyan youth are either
unemployed or underemployed, creating a dangerous pool of energy ready for the
taking by any individual with money. This creates the problem of goonism in
politics because youth become desperate are will do anything to earn that
shilling.
