V- man
There are concerted efforts to make politics youth friendly and as such assure democracy of a future. We all have heard the hype about the young people being the leaders of tomorrow, and it is now close to 2 decades since these kinds of sentiments begun. The youth are increasingly being marginalized in their participation in democracy as their roles become more and more peripheral, and non-contributory towards promotion and fostering of the practice of democracy; praise singers, tent pitchers, as one PLO Lumumba would assert, members of politicians militia, mobilized for a pittance and a roll or two of bhang, noisemakers and hecklers at political rallies. This list does not bode well for the anticipated participation of youths in mainstream politics, but that is not the reason why I have decided to pen this piece. It is too sad and demotivating to dedicate such a gargantuan effort on so reader-fatiguing a subject.
Allow me to regale you with 3 very illuminating stories of young people trying to get into political leadership. I come from Kisumu, yes, that land that evokes quite a bit of emotions from most people, what with our culture, fish, cold beer, bodaboda, fanaticism and well endowed, especially posteriorly, members of the fairer sex. These 3 youthful aspirants come from 3 different wards - Migosi (in which I reside), Mamboleo (in which I work), and Nyalenda (which a poet I know wanted to be made into a city a la his riveting piece of poetry – Make Nyalesh a City).
Yusuf of Mamboleo runs a small hotel that is situated among many others in the dusty Mamboleo market on the outskirts of Kisumu town, with his young wife, and chubby 3-year-old daughter. The wife cooks, Yusuf, he serves customers, and listens. After almost 3 years of doing this, he reckons he knows what this community needs, its aspirations, its challenges, and perhaps more importantly, the solutions to a variety of problems that he links directly to poor non-visionary leadership imposed upon the people through political patronage, and propped up by intimidation and violence. Occasionally, when we patronize Bunge hotel for chapatis and goat meat, Yusuf talks with passion of his vision for Kajulu, and one can tell that he has it figured out. So, we ask him, do the people of Kajulu share this vision? He shrugs and says that they do, but it will take an 'outsider' like him a very long time to win their trust and confidence, and this despite the fact that they have been sharing chapatis, agony, heated and passionate discussions on what ails their community, for so long, and yet when it comes to political leadership, he is not trustworthy. He dismisses these and says that the real problem is political patronage and intimidation, and besides, he won’t get the popular party's ticket to vie for elections, forcing him to consider running on a platform that is not popular. '"The problem, Victor, is that our people still elect parties to represent them, and not right people ", he intones mournfully. And he is not giving up the struggle for the councillor’s seat. In his opinion the most outstanding thing that parliamentary democracy has provided Kenya since it inception is the Political Parties Bill, which he hopes will translate into people like him getting opportunities to vie for elections on parties, with funding and which will sponsor candidates in elections. But, the number has to come down from 300 to a manageable figure of between 5 and 10, the very essence of the Bill.
Paul is a robust soft spoken, mild mannered young businessman in Kisumu, whose only sin was when Man Utd ended the Gunners unprecedented unbeaten run some time ago and he chose to remove his jersey and hurl it about himself in a frenzy that left quite a bit of his flabby tummy exposed. I think Tusker also had something to do with it. Anyway, Paul is contesting for councillor in Migosi, and he is relying on the youth vote to swing it his way. He believes in this so much such that early one morning, as I was making my way out of the estate, by the matatu stage, I meet him in his shorts and slippers, patiently waiting for someone, or something. So I ask him how the campaign is going and he says it is going on well, even as we speak, I add really? How? It turns out that he is waiting for a certain lass. Won’t that get you into trouble with the missus? I venture, alarmed. Actually Paul was personally going to get her registered as a voter, and he says, that he will go out of his way to ensure that the young people in his prospective ward register as voters. You see, that is Paul’s strategy for winning. Simple, and true to his word, the lass shows up, all dressed up to go to work, and Paul takes her by the hand and leads her away to register as a voter for the first time in her life. Wow! There was something so personal about what I witnessed and in my mind; I am convinced that that was the beginning of a partnership between Paul and the lass. A few weeks later, I bump into Paul in town talking to people, holding their hand, laughing at their jokes, but mostly they were laughing at his (he is quite a charmer, you know), and he tells me that he is forming partnerships and bonds with the electorate – no money, propaganda, name calling, intrigues, shadowy boxing, violence...those are the hallmarks of yesteryear politics and politicians, he maintains. He is a young and upwardly mobile professional, and he wants to professionalize politics. The story of Paul is, well, just that, a story – Paul makes trousers for a living. Not as a tailor, but as a designer. He started taking orders from individuals, and moving from office to office, door-to-door, charming people and getting them trendy and well-cut trousers. Then he got a lucky break and his firm got a contract to do uniforms for a major security firm. His achievements give him the confidence to seek elective office, because he is accountable, and wants to provide accountable leadership. Paul is also quite a family man, who takes time off to pick his son from kindergarten, even when the mother will do so, and stroll together, holding hands, a united family. So does he have what it takes? Of course I do, he retorts, how more accountable can one be if not to his community and family? What about his strategy for winning the party nominations and eventually the seat? Well, the youth always get the wrong end of the stick, if they get a stick at all, that is, and they are the bulk of the eligible voters, so if I get them to actually register to vote, and sell myself to them as one of their own, and who has been holding this end of the stick with them, it does not matter much which platform I will use, for they will vote for me. The youth are tired of seeing the grey-haired, foaming-at-the-mouth, corrupt, tribal, don’t-know-what-email-is politicos who are slowly choking the life out of our country, our dreams.
In one of the innermost villages of the sprawling Nyalenda slums is a nondescript pub (aren’t they all here), atop which perches a satellite dish (maybe in another forum, I will discuss the contributions of the FA Premier League to local economies). Infact, during my brief sojourn in Nyalenda, it is this very dish that led me to this joint on a hot and sweltering typical Kisumu Saturday afternoon 3 years ago. It was a pleasant surprise in the form of one Walter behind the counter, dispensing Oh So Cold Ones, and wisdom. You see, we went to school with Walter a long time ago, when St. Mary’s Yala was St. Mary’s Yala, youknowwhatimean? Anyway, Walter runs the pub which is a family business, and has been for a very long time. He literally grew up in Nyalenda, though his dad is not originally from that area and is considered a settler, having bought land, but to Walter, Nyalenda is home.
Last year, I met Walter again at the local KPLC office, very upset, and given that most people who come to KPLC offices usually are, it wasn’t much of a surprise, but later on, he was to reflect on that single day and instance as being very definitive for him in as far as his decision to plunge into siasa. Apparently, a power transformer in the neighbourhood was prone to acting up and many were the times that they had to do without electricity, and of course, it was affecting business and lives. So since nobody was stepping up to step up to KPLC, and preferred to come to moan in the bar as Kenyans are wont to, over Not So Cold Ones, of course, Walter took the challenge and applied and sustained pressure on KPLC on behalf of the others, until the matter was handled and a long term solution found. Walter became a hero, and more often than not, people started coming to him to sort out or help sort out issues affecting them – insecurity, lack of basic services and facilities, grabbed playgrounds – that sort of thing.
A few weeks ago, during one of our famous hot afternoons in downtown Kisumu, atop a motorcycle bodaboda (we have plenty of those too), Walter is talking animatedly on his phone and upon seeing me, he motions his ‘driver’ to stop. Excitedly, he tells me that he is running for councillor in his ward! And he wants me to register in his place so I can vote for him! I tell him to slow down a bit – I already registered to vote elsewhere and besides, somebody else is relying on my vote. So Walter asks me a very interesting question – Is the person you have in mind a young person, a youth? I nod. Then Walter smiles and says that in that case it is alright. In fact, he wants us to create a forum for youthful aspirants to come together to share experiences, motivate and support each other and form joint strategies. “Victor, this country is ripe for youthful leadership, and I am taking my place. We can no longer stand and watch. We must contribute,” asserts Walter. The ‘driver’ reminds him that it is time to go. The motorcycle is his mode of reaching out to people, it is fast, efficient, visible and most importantly, the very fact that he is using it empowers a youth economically, and that in his opinion is leadership – empowering youths. “Call me” he yells, as he disappears rather precariously, in a cloud of blue smoke and noise. One only hopes that he arrives at his destination in one enthusiastic piece!
That is the story of Yusuf, Paul and Walter, my three heroes, who have given me the opportunity to hope once again for the future of this country. God bless them.
