{"id":23659,"date":"2024-06-24T07:32:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barazalab.com\/?p=23659"},"modified":"2024-09-17T14:36:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T14:36:22","slug":"barua-ya-baraza-gen-zii-rejectnotamend-mashujaa-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tuwele.com\/baraza_update\/barua-ya-baraza-gen-zii-rejectnotamend-mashujaa-week\/","title":{"rendered":"BARUA YA BARAZA: Gen Zii, #RejectNotAmend, Mashujaa Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Greetings, friends:<\/span><\/i><\/p>

It\u2019s been an incredible week in Kenya, and I am happy to continue the tradition of passing the mic to members of our community to guest curate this newsletter. This time we\u2019re doing it a little differently, with three voices sharing their reflections on From The Curator\u2019s Desk: <\/span><\/i>Benter Dongo<\/i><\/b>, HR Lead at Baraza Media Lab, <\/span><\/i>Cynthia Adongo<\/i><\/b>, Comms Asssociate at Baraza Media Lab, and <\/span><\/i>Kevin Mwachiro<\/i><\/b>, journalist, podcaster and activist. Our regular compilation of jobs and opportunities are on the Baraza Opportunity Board, linked at the bottom of this newsletter.<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Please send your guest writing pitches for this section to chris@barazalab.com if you\u2019re interested in being our guest curator on the newsletter, and you have something of interest to share to our community \u2014 a trend you\u2019ve noticed or something you\u2019d like us to think about.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>

~ Christine<\/span><\/i>

<\/span><\/i><\/p>

BENTER DONGO: Gen Zii<\/b>
<\/b><\/p>

Historic and beautiful. Two words to describe the magnanimity of the moment I felt as I stood in awe, surrounded by young people, reminding me of my campus days. I soaked it all in, the pungent sharp smell in the air stinging the insides of my throat, eyes bloodshot and teary as we took selfies for commemoration. Vuvuzelas, whistles, motorbikes, speakers, chanting- beautiful chaos and a painful song about resistance. What a time to be Kenyan!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

I was scared to show up on Tuesday because I have an infant. I showed up on Thursday for my infant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Life in this country has become ridiculously expensive and unbearable yet we continue to receive lacklustre services and false promises year in year out. To peg one\u2019s election campaign on the hopes and backs of struggling mama mboga and bodaboda guys, only to turn your back on them, now focused on ticking off all the countries visited in your bucket list, is despicably inhumane.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And that\u2019s what the new generation has refused to tolerate. We did for a good while, witnessing how regimes took advantage of our parents and grandparents, era after era. Mismanagement of public funds daily, unaccountability, subpar infrastructure, division along tribal lines, disingenuous elections, and a dire lack of opportunities to advance. This is the state you want to overtax Mr. President? A people can only endure so much. The youngins are now here to tell you enough is enough, in uncut words.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

On Thursday, the streets of many different Kenyans towns looked and sounded radiant. Countrywide, fear is slowly being thwarted as we show up one by one to explicitly tell the government, \u2018This country is ours, not your backyard\u2019. Whatever <\/span>international strings<\/span><\/a> are being pulled by neocolonialists to keep us shackled, find an alternative way to fix it, that\u2019s why Kenyans elected you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

I bet you\u2019ve seen photos and videos of brave citizens standing up to authorities unmoved, celebrating every time a canister of tear gas was hauled, some even turned the exchange into a game of tennis, water cannons sprayed forcefully but protesters rising again with more defiance. What am I saying? A revolution is taking place and Kenyans led by young people have refused to be intimidated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Before I left the office that Thursday afternoon for the streets, I asked the activist that I had just interviewed in her protest attire, “What are the chances of me getting arrested? Because I have a baby that needs weaning this evening.\u201d \u201cVery high,\u201d she said, \u201cBut you\u2019ll be out by night since it’s unconstitutional.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWait for me, I\u2019m coming.\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The fear and apathy of Kenyans have been replaced with fury, and it\u2019s about damn time. Let the dissent continue- this one will be for the books.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>