Last Wednesday’s events at Orange House, where Senator Elizabeth Ongoro and a bunch of hired goons allegedly assaulted and smoked out ODM CEO Oduor Ong’wen, were nothing less than depressing. The violence meted out on Ong’wen, who had to be rescued by armed security officers, is an indication of matters gone wrong with our society.
That an elected legislator, and a senator to boot, chose violent means to settle a dispute rather than dialogue and diplomacy speaks volumes regarding the quality of our leadership. That our youth agreed to be recruited and misused to mete out violence and anarchy is a frightening indictment on the state of our nation.
Our large youth population is viewed as a potential strength. With one of the youngest populations on earth, coupled with a good education system, Kenya’s youth bulge reinforces the opportunity for economic growth that is gaining attention and foreign investment — a reality that other emerging regional and global powers including China, India, Brazil and Turkey have already begun to seize.
Every blessing, however, as they say, is a potential curse. Africa’s youth are also the most vulnerable segment of the population, suffering from systemic poverty, lack of education, high unemployment rates and a high rate of disease.
As a result, our political leaders have often used the youth for their own political agenda, exploiting them through the political process. It is this mentality that has created violence in recent elections.
In the run-up to the general election, it is important that our youth openly reject manipulation and exploitation by our political leaders to suit their selfish ends. They must stand up and be counted as agents of peace and democracy. Youths must reason and act positively, rather than behave as auto-morons controlled by puppeteers (read politicians).
The development of youth leadership is about building civic capacity and long-term community sustainability. Investing in the younger generation today is one way to harvest tomorrow’s peace, democracy, stability, security and sustainable development. The repeated manipulation and exploitation of youths by political leaders who come to them only when they need their votes and voices during campaigns must be rejected.
The youth must also reject politicians who use them as political decorations. These are those who use them for ceremonial purposes, where they put on T-shirts, stand in the streets or gatherings, gladly singing, clapping and dancing in an event whose purpose they hardly know.
Yet they feel glad because of the new T-shirt and the little transport fare they will receive. This is an insult to their intelligence and human dignity, as they are used as chattel or zombies.
Kenyan youth have in the past been deployed to harm, maim and even kill opponents during political campaigns. The 1992 and 1997 political clashes come to mind, culminating in the disastrous 2007-08 post-election violence that caused the deaths of more than 1,300 Kenyans, maiming many more and displacing 600,000.
One wonders whether we learnt anything from the experience following the fiasco at Orange House. Respect for human rights and human dignity, equity, social justice, equality and equal opportunities, inclusiveness, non-discrimination and protection of the weak and marginalised are values to be inculcated and cherished. The biblical tenet of “love thy neighbour as thyself” holds eternally true.
Law enforcement agencies — the police, DPP, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and others — ought to be alert and deal with any persons out to foment any kind of violence, their status and position notwithstanding.
There should be no sacred cows. Their swift and immediate arrest, prosecution and incarceration will serve to nip our season of political violence in the bud.
To those politicians who employ youth as agents of violence ... a special place awaits you in hell.