By Prof Gitile Naituli
A revolution is not a one season event. For a complete change to sweep a deeply entrenched system of beliefs, conduct, and management of public affairs, there must be consistency of action, focus on goals, and clarity of vision. Resilience on the part of revolutionaries or freedom fighters, as the case may be, is imperative. The struggle is riddled with perils, trials, and innumerable temptations to compromise. Some fall along the way, yet the brave ones win the prize of liberty for the people.
The seed of people’s power may germinate in one place over a single instance excessive force by the police which triggers a chain of events or a grievance that resonates with a cross section of citizens, which when raised, triggers an avalanche of other long standing demands, which turns into a united national movement for change.
Notwithstanding the strength of force exerted by those in power, once a seed of revolution germinates in the psych of the people, it really never dies. It might get delayed for a season or two in a number of ways, but eventually, it has to see the light of day. Like in the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, some in the change movement may be intimidated, jailed or even killed…but the revolution remains alive and conscious that there’s a price to pay. The remaining warriors may feel the need to retreat, re-energize, and re-strategize.
The complacent business community may strongly condemn revolutionary activities. They may brand revolutionaries as terrorists and economic saboteurs. Their resistance to change is mostly rooted in myopia, inertia, and the selfish aristocratic comfort. They connive with state apparatus to protect a privileged few. The more the gap between the rich and poor widens, the closer the revolution becomes. The revolutionaries may take a break in order to break the trail of espionage and insinuations. Yet the spirit of an egalitarian society lives.
The church, the mosque, and the community leaders with pockets lined by state largesse will listen to their stomachs. In the stupor of gluttony, they will play deaf to the cries of the children, the sick, the hungry, the flock, and that of the entire community. They will chastise and curse the revolutionaries as violent, nuisance, and intoxicated. Yet the sober mind of the revolutionary remains fixed to the prize. One day, the light of truth, justice, and equity will, like the morning sun, embrace all the corners of the country.
The state deploys windmills of propaganda and slander. Revolutionaries are branded agents of foreign interests. They are labelled as mercenaries and traitors. They are baptised as anarchists and lackeys sponsored by dubious NGOs and targeted for abduction, torture, and elimination. Young patriots are dismissed as urchins and idlers. Yet, the windmills of solar power are non-existent, or they remain in a state of disrepair. Fortunately, the revolution remains cautious and vigilant. It is a game for those with thick skin. But there’s progress among the silent majority. The life situation has gotten worse over time, and they start thinking about the ideas of the change movement.
The police and the army start taking a second thought. The church loses the tithes, and the offerings for people have no extra coin. The pastor takes a second thought about the revolution. In fact, the pangs of hunger make the clergy to pray for change. The merchant no longer breaks-even because citizens have no buying power. Yet the tax man wants to break his neck… because the politician has to eat. Further threatened by a declining shilling, the merchant thinks twice. The call for change was not very bad after all.
Then a little spark, maybe an accident caused by poor state of roads, exorbitant taxation of essential commodities or an arrogant outburst by a member of the regime becomes the epicentre by which erupts an unstoppable volcano of civil disobedience. Everyone joins in the national movement, which mercilessly sweeps the ruling tyrants into the lake of shame and ignominy either into exile, jail, or heaven.
The historical situation of Kenya is not different from what is described above. The masses rose against an entrenched tyranny in the mid-80s and early 1990s. Led by the then young Turks, they fought for second liberation, and they achieved the repeal of section 2(a) of the former constitution, which reintroduced multi-party democracy in the country. The push did not end there. The forces of social progress utilized the liberated democratic space to further the cause of change. The ultimate prize of that generation was the attainment of the 2010 constitution promulgated by President Mwai Kibaki in August 2010. The promise of a new dawn seemed real.
However, 14 years down the road, it has dawned on the country that the new dawn promised by the 2010 charter is increasingly turning into a mirage. This reality has woken another generation of young Kenyans into a fate of revolutionary national duty. GenZ have accepted the duty that history has bestowed upon them with honour and courage. So far, major changes have occurred in our body politik. The momentum is irreversible. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes.
