Gen Z is an educated population that takes into account every single little thing that affects them and they are intelligent enough to be engaged in dialogue. In fact, according to World Bank statistics in Kenya, the literacy level is at 89 percent for the youth aged between 15 and 24. About 90 percent of girls are being educated and 88 percent of boys being educated.
Yes, these are the people you are dealing with, of whom most are unemployed and they need some level of conversation on why they are facing the issues at hand. Adding insult to injury, they are to be charged added tax, with a tough Finance Bill passed by the same people they put into power and in whom they had so much hope.
Taking into account those who are between 15 and 35 across the continent, they are 453 million of them, and we are the only continent with a positive population growth. Policies have to be sensitive to this demographic and the issues that affect them, and their representatives also must also listen to their voices.
These are the rough statistics in Kenya and across the continent. If this number says enough is enough, as what was demonstrated across the country on Wednesday, and Senegal a very good case study of the power of the youth, then it’s time our Government and African states to avoided any leader who is trying to chest thump and ‘embrace dialogue’.
When the President mentioned last week that he was ready to engage with the youth that was a perfect time for dialogue. But that window for dialogue is almost closed. The youth are now bitter, they have called you, the political class, names, and they have been called names, and now any opening for dialogue may have to be done by third parties.
What if the government engaged highly respected leaders from across the continent? Government needs to remember the state has the responsibility to protect its citizens and not intimidate them and anger them to the levels witnessed yesterday. Dialogue is one of the means through which the state can show care and protection to its citizens.
The timelines are very tight. The longer it takes, the more things might escalate, and criminals and paid thugs infiltrate demonstrations. In any conflict situation, negotiations and dialogue can still happen, even as protests continue. Latent issues are now in the open and there is no way out except facing the situation and responding to the plea of most youth, before their parents decide to join them.
It is also crucial to engage the youth in constructive, empathetic dialogue at this stalemate stage, before they fall prey to vices, such as radicalisation and substance abuse, because after yesterday, they are a traumatised lot.
Opportunities that can emerge from possible inclusive negotiation include understanding, improvement of relationships, enhanced search for solutions to the issues that Gen Z have tabled, change, confidence in governance, and ultimately intergenerational bonding.
These are children Kenya needs to nurture to be the best of its efforts in human capacity development to ensure they reach their very best levels. We need to safeguard the subtle peace we have had over the years. If the youth feel unheard, they will be easy prey to vice, which will lead us further down into a typical example of a failing state.
On my favourite quote on youth is by Kofi Annan [the late], the former UN secretary general, and a negotiator of the Kenyan 2007-08 peace dialogue in Kenya; ''no one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline; it is condemned to bleed to death.”
Democracy support researcher and scholar, currently based in Sweden