An old friend, who gets all his news the old fashioned way—reading a hard copy newspaper—when he’s not getting it directly from his own sources, told me soon after President William Ruto was sworn in that the hubris, arrogance and opulence of his own men and women will be his undoing.
My friend was not just speculating. Having been around and in the mix during the latter part of Moi’s era and having witnessed the power plays and palace intrigues of the time, to him, Ruto and crew were subjects he could study and predict their next steps and moves much as he would his now grown children and grandchildren.
None of us would have known that the undoing of the Ruto presidency would come in the hands of Gen Zs, largely driven by their revulsion of the hubris, arrogance and opulence in his government, and rivalled in their tone-deafness by their comrades and partners in punishing the public in Parliament.
No one else saw this Gen Z revulsion coming to a head as it has, including the Ruto government itself. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua confirmed this in his angry speech in Mombasa soon after the head of state gave his following the demonstrations that had MPs scampering for safety.
The two speeches were remarkable in what they immediately also confirmed that Ruto’s speech must have been written by someone who has clearly never heard the expression, if in a hole, stop digging. On the other hand, the DP's speech betrayed the bare-knuckle, take no-hostages approach straight from Moi school of street politics.
Gachagua, in his speech, was direct and forceful, making the case that the President was let down by NIS director general Noordin Haji, terming the surprise storming of Parliament as nothing but a total failure of Haji and his team in properly assessing and advising the President about Gen Zs's grievances.
The President later ate a humble pie, toned down the ominous rhetoric and announced he had withdrawn the much hated Finance Bill. However, if he thought withdrawing the Bill was the end-all-troubles fix to Gen Z revulsion, he was mistaken.
The country has experienced a potpourri of fortunes and misfortunes over the past six decades, and one time saw our darkest days that nearly resulted in a civil war—but thank God it did not come to that, and we pray never again.
But we have never quite experienced anything like what is happening in the country with Gen Z at the controls.
Yes, there have been demonstrations, and one can even say we have become accustomed to having them after each election circle, but this is different.
That’s what any thoughtful person would say about this with any certainty.
If someone says they know how this is going to end, they are simply speculating or lying.
Nobody knows, but here is what we know: it is not going to be business as usual going forward. The hubris, arrogance and opulence must be replaced with humility and a government serving the interests of the people rather than the few in it who think they own it.
But the settling of dust cannot happen in a vacuum. The President must take immediate, bold action to get us there.
To borrow from Ruto himself during happier days, mambo ni matatu tu (there are only three things): First, he must sack nearly everyone in any decision-making position and replace them with competent professionals reflecting regional and gender balance to help turn things around.
Second, he must confront corruption head-on for the first time since he became President. This vice is killing the country, but he has ignored it as if it didn’t exist when it’s arguably worse than it has ever been.
Third, the funds recovered from corruption cases must be used immediately to implement programmes to create plentiful youth employment.
Anything less will be nothing but more trouble ahead.