Two weeks ago, one of the readers of this newspaper, Michael Shioso, wrote a highly informative response to my earlier column in which I had expressed some reservations on whether the Gen Z demonstrators would end up having a lasting impact on Kenyan politics.
I would rephrase my key reservation as follows: it is all very well to be “fearless and tribeless”, but when you are also “leaderless” (or, alternatively, “partyless”) then how is anyone in authority who wants to listen to your demands to know whom to listen to?
And since all politics involves some kind of compromise, who will there be to negotiate any such compromise with?
Shioso’s Op-Ed was well argued and there is much there that is worth reading and thinking about. Here is the link to the online version: https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/2025-07-23-shioso-what-muga-got-wrong-about-gen-z-a-new-kind-of-power-is-rising-1.
For now, it is his conclusion that I wish to comment on.
He wrote: “What we are witnessing is not just another protest—it is a civic reset, a new blueprint for participatory democracy. Rather than question their clarity or leadership, it would be wiser for political commentators and power holders to ask: Why are so many Kenyans choosing the street over the ballot box? Why do they feel unrepresented, unheard, and unprotected?”
I would answer these questions by making just two points.
First is that these problems are merely the manifestations of our political ecosystem being plagued by endemic corruption. And that the reason this corruption has such deep roots is that it is more a cultural phenomenon than a political one.
Kenyans do not even bother to conceal anymore, the petty bribery that takes place whenever there is some kind of public event being held. There are very many videos of this kind of activity available on social media.
But I am told that it is even worse than that when it comes to funerals. If the local MP (or even the senator or governor) arrives, a good number of the “mourners” will immediately walk away from the place where the funeral ceremony is being held, and queue next to where “mheshimiwa” has parked his grand and glittering SUV.
They do this so that if he leaves early (as such VIPs often do) they will not miss out on the handouts that the locals believe they have a right to receive, and for which they will dutifully queue for as long as it takes.
And so I ask: if any MP or senator or governor is well aware that he only managed to win his seat due to a lavish outpouring of cash handouts, do we have any right to expect that this duly elected leader will then devote the next five years to fighting against what Shioso defined as “corruption, the lack of dignity in governance, the impunity and the violent suppression of dissent”?
Is he not more likely to be focused on finding ways to recover the money he spent? And to then get even more money – by whatever means necessary – with an eye on the next election? As the manifest failures of all the various anti-corruption institutions set up by successive governments make clear, there cannot be any institutional solution to what is, essentially, a cultural problem.
So, I look forward to seeing if the multitudes of Gen Z youths will, first, register to vote in the next election and, second, turn down any cash handouts offered to them as the election date draws near.
If indeed the Gen Z multitudes want peaceful change, then an active participation in elections offers the only path to this goal.
My other point is that the only reason why there are so many youths available to join in demonstrations (or to queue up for handouts) is that our national attempts at industrialisation have all been a miserable failure.
And as a result, there are very few jobs to be had, even for those with the best of academic qualifications.
This too is tied to the willingness of ordinary Kenyans to be bribed for their votes:
In our current political dispensation, hardly any leader thinks beyond the next election cycle.
And yet the kind of advanced infrastructure needed for laying the groundwork for industrialisation requires long-term planning and prudent use of loans taken for development projects.
Wycliffe Muga is a columnist
