Gen Z protests: Let's deflate the national anger

We did not expect the turn of events witnessed during Gen Z demonstrations this year.  

I was a victim trying to get into town through Thika road. A 'backdoor' route through Kiambu made my day, Githurai was impassible. (Where did the name Githurai come from? It is not a very pleasant one even when there is no chaos).   

My destination was Village Market. Curiously, I found tourists and Kenyans enjoying their afternoon, taking coffee and shopping. It just occurred to me that demonstrations are a class issue. I had a lunch meeting with someone visiting from Europe, you can guess the questions put to me. 

I used the same backdoor route back to Thika Road where I have some strategic interests. This time using a much shorter route, the northern bypass. At Kahawa West, we found police removing boulders and burning tires from the road. That did not stop young men from demanding something from us under the nose of the policemen.

Just before joining Thika Road, there was a 'toll station'.  No policemen in sight.  We turned back towards Kahawa West into Membley Estate.  At Clay products, we drove on the wrong side of Thika Road past KU into Kahawa Sukari where supermarkets were closed.  It was a big relief. My plan was to drop someone there and head to the airport. I cancelled the flight.

At sunset I reflected on the long day. 

One, why are men more represented in demonstrations? I never saw any lady threatening us with stones. Does that explain why investors in education prefer to build girls schools, seen as safer?  

Does that explain men’s joblessness; they are seen as risky employees. Does that explain why even touts and caddies are nowadays girls? Think of the number of women hired to take care of houses or children. Add affirmative action. It is becoming harder to be a man. Who cares about men?  

Two, demonstrations bring out opportunists. Some of the young men on the streets were not there for the Gen Z cause, some were healthier than me. They wanted to extort money, make hay when the sun shines. That is why social systems are so fragile, there are opportunists waiting in the wings.

Three, why should Village Market be at peace and Githurai full of chaos just like last year?  Economic pains are felt deepest by the hustlers—men and women at the lower echelons of the society with no savings and living from hand to mouth. Is that why Sh100 was enough for demonstrators to let you pass? 

Four, the 'divide' between Githurai and Village Market clearly shows voting did not solve the economic problem espoused by joblessness, despair and hopelessness among the youth. The political solution (polls) was to give an economic solution. Economic problems take years to resolve; voting is for a day.

The failure to solve the economic problem is fueling anger among Kenyans particularly when promises were during the polls. The perception that political solutions, read polls, are only benefiting a few economically is fueling more anger. One year since Gen Z demonstrations and deaths thereof, it’s clear the economic grievances are still unresolved.  

Five, the government reaction—switching off live coverage—shows how 'successful' the demos were. And made many felt there was something to hide. The level of looting and destruction left me wondering if there was no intelligence on that. Counties suffered too; were security forces brought to Nairobi, leaving 'mashinani' exposed? 

Enough lamentations, what’s the solution?

The economic fundamentals have not changed much in the last one year; sadly GDP growth has slowed. There are more jobseekers and the external environment has not improved, with war in Ukraine and Gaza, and now tension between Iran and Israel. 

The solution is within our borders, charity starts at home. Let’s start by deflating national anger.

One low lying fruit is to placate Gen Z with what’s dear to them, education.  The government should convert the housing levy to an education levy. Education reaches deeper into our homes, better than housing. We are in the tropics, where housing is not such a critical issue because of the fine weather. 

We can have county-based youth forums. Let the Gen Z ventilate and share their views. We may not get the solutions immediately but that’s a start, problems shared are half solved. 

Why not have economic programmes that are time bound, maybe every six months? Once we start seeing tangible results, the anger will dissipate. We love the language of money, we need an economic stimulus package, something close to that during Covid-19. Cut some taxes or postpone some. Interest rates are going down but that is not enough stimulus.

Public works are labour intensive. Let us build roads, dams, plant trees, clean Nairobi and other rivers. What of structured volunteerism? What of national sports; think of Nyeri County FC vs Nandi County FC?

In the long run, let’s build an export market, it is by selling or making something that we create jobs. Let’s improve on the quality of our goods and services; Japan, Korea and China did that.

What can we sell to the world? Value-added agriculture products, and our minerals. Our education and Tourism?  Let us make our country friendlier to entrepreneurs and investors, job creators.   

Exporting jobs is an option but many Kenyans will remain at home. Remember we raised Gen Z expectations through school and exposure to global standards and benchmarks. 

We can deflate anger by relentlessly fighting corruption or its perception. This is fueling anger when tied to taxes, high cost of living and disdain for the poor. We should not let the balloon of anger keep inflating. 

Let's be blunt; turning around the economy is not an easy task, not just for President Ruto but for anyone else.  It takes time and focus. But if can be done, though not through scapegoating. Let us ride on Kenyans' goodwill and resilience. The day after the demos, Kenyans were back to their jobs—even the police were picking their usual Sh50 from matatus.

The closeness of 2027 makes deflating national anger more urgent. Instilling fear is not the best solution to economic problems, it could make matters worse.