Why Are The Youth Not Interested?

The youth represent only 39.84% of the 22.1 million Kenyans registered to vote for the August elections, or roughly 8.9 million voters.?

Well, that's interesting because, on the national level, we should have 14 million eligible young voters. If this population registered to vote, that would make a whopping 63% of the total voters. With that figure, what would stop the youth from electing a leader of their choice?

This may seem like an obvious straightforward calculation that can easily be used to fault the youth. It is easy to say 'the youth are not interested' because mathematically, they can elect a youthful leader 'early in the morning' as it is commonly termed. However, I believe this is a result of much bigger institutionalised barriers that have ensured that young Kenyans do not see their combined force as a worthy asset to overcome the political predicaments that they face each day.?

We have grown up in a society that encourages self-doubt and a ‘saviour’ mentality that has become the common mindset in all of us. If we lack, fail, or meet any challenge in life, no one shows you the great potential that lies in taking action by your own means. Rather - and unfortunately- our society has consistently taught us to ‘kneel down and pray’ and hope for the best.??

I don’t mean to insinuate that religion or relying on prayer is a bad thing. It is true that prayer has power, and I have heard many people attribute good tidings to God's blessings after an intimate and humble prayer request. What I mean is, our worldly religions have worked so hard to ensure that our understanding of God is flawed in a certain way that promotes total reliance rather than supplemental assistance. When God has already provided you with hands and land, why pray to Him for food when He has technically already provided it? Just an example for context.?

The mindset has become part of our DNA and has impacted all aspects of our lives, including governance. In our minds, we believe that help can only be brought from a 'superior' with more power and resources, rather than from within or from other peers who believe in themselves - if at all they do. When your neighbour, who is ‘suffering’ just like you, comes to you with plans of becoming president, you probably laugh loudly and compare him or her to a Raila or a Ruto that better fits the profile. Why? Because they have the power, the money, the connections, the popularity, the all-so-presidential package that can NEVER be argued against as empowered by their sheer ‘superiority’.?

From the synagogue to the polling station, from the classroom to the work desk, we have stripped our young people of trust in natural capability to the point that they no longer see themselves as a solution and are only able to be dependent on a 'saviour’ from above' and similarly external forces. Despite large investments in education and deep penetration of the gospel, no one has taught young people that the blessings they seek are already within their grasp and that a single choice to believe from within can affect the course of their lives. It is not emphasised to them that God did not intend us to be at the mercy of anyone else when he instructed us to believe and pray. Instead, they have left the battleground to the 'superior beings' who can create 'better' leaders and enhance their superiority at the same time as they enhance our inferiority.?

What happens, then? They feel worthless and tired before even trying. From where they see it, they cannot achieve anything and would rather just sit in their misery than try to dictate governance matters in the country. They make up greater numbers than the 51% required to elect a president, yet they gave up ‘early in the morning’ and did not register to vote at all.?

It would be easier for our young people to become independent and less dependent if we taught them that natural ability and self-reliance are key attributes for success in life. By doing so, people will feel a collective sense of competence that will remind them that they are 63% too strong to do basically anything they want to do in the coming election.?

Well, here we are now. Maybe we should kneel down, pray and hope for a better five years than the ones we’ve had before. Or the ones before that. Or maybe, just maybe, a powerful leader with a huge following and a rhetoric agenda will save the day - and not your neighbour who has ‘nothing to offer' as they should be needing the superior being themselves - and putting their trust in anything but themselves.?