Outdated economic model to blame for Gen Z's rebellion

As Kenyans seek to recover from the battering inflicted by violent Gen Z demonstrations, the question that is uppermost in peoples’ minds is how to bring the youthful revolution to an end lest it destroys the nation. The pertinent question is what it will take to reset the economy so that it can absorb an enlightened generation that has clearly run out of patience.

According to many pundits, the blame for the national crisis is a government that has failed to appreciate the import of two mutually reinforcing social developments. The first development is emergence of a well educated and tech-savvy youthful generation that does not shy from asserting its democratic rights. As children of a technologically advanced age, the youthful generations have become global citizens with democratic values that demand high standards of governance and accountability.

The second development is failure by the economy to create enough jobs to absorb the youthful bulge. Bombarded by messages extolling the virtues of hard work and how it is the key to a good life, youthful graduates are coming to the end of formal education to find the promised dividends non-existent. Able to discern the connection between bad governance and their unemployment, the youth have taken to the streets to demand reforms from an administration which only seems to excel in making empty promises. 

To add insult to injury, the government has reacted to the Gen Z protest through undemocratic tools of repression and stone age ethnic profiling. Instead of fixing the economy, the government has resorted to abducting and disappearing young people in an effort to stifle dissent. Besides the human suffering caused by such repression, such tactics have only succeeded in alienating an enlightened generation that cannot put up with egregious violation of human rights. In addition to repression, the government has also resorted to divide-and-rule strategies that exploit ethnic differences against a generation that is not only tribeless but considers such tactics outdated.

There have been calls for national inter-generational dialogue to map the way forward. However, national dialogue would be futile unless we change the mixed capitalism adopted at independence. Given the numerous challenges facing the nation and unequal regional development, we adopted a capitalist system that also incorporates central planning and coordination of development goals. However, putting the economic levers in the hands of a few people created fertile grounds for state capture due to weak controls and a populace ignorant of the limits of government authority.

Politically, vulnerability of the system to state capture exacerbated ethnic relations because those in power not only sought to exploit the system for personal gain but also for fellow tribesmen. Although devolution has sought to cure unfair allocation of resources, the culture of corruption and “our time to eat” mentality was also devolved to the counties. The net effect of this corrupt system has been to raise the cost of government, necessitating high taxes and increased government borrowing to meet rising deficits. Inevitably, the high unemployment is the economic consequences of an ideology that crowds out the initiative and resourcefulness of its citizens. 

After 60 years of planned economy, it is my view that Kenya needs a different ideology that will not only protect individual rights but also do a better job of creating employment. Instead of a large government that constantly runs large deficits, it is time for a lean government that allows market forces to allocate resources rather than political elites. Moreover the free market approach would remove the visible hand of the market from elite and ethnic calculations and return the responsibility of self-actualisation to individuals.

In 1789, French peasants rebelled against the monarchy due to high taxes and a poorly performing economy. The spirit of the rebellion was attributed to the influence of pervasive ideas about inalienable rights of man that were popularised by the enlightenment period in Europe. According to historical accounts, the French revolution resulted in overthrow of the monarchy and installed a people-centered republican government that observed and guaranteed the rights of man.

The French revolution is a great example for Kenya because of the similarities in underlying causes. It is both a warning that things can get worse before getting better and it is an important pointer of what needs addressing to turn the nation around. While the French revolution was sparked by the inadequacies of an arrogant monarchy, the the Gen Z uprising is clearly a repudiation of a centrally managed economic system that is both inefficient and incompatible with the values of a more enlightened generation. The revolution is an affirmation that the time is ripe to replace an outdated economic model with a people-centered system that allows the resourcefulness and the entrepreneurial spirit of the citizens to flower.