When the Civil Rights movement in the United States is discussed, we resonate with figures like Rosa Parks and the bus ride, Martin Luther King Jr, John Lewis, Malcom X and others.
What later became one of the monumental political movements in the 21st century was a result of organised and decentralised leadership from the grassroots to the national level.
The same can be said of leadership structures in the African National Congress (ANC) during the struggle against apartheid. ANC architecture constituted activism and legal structures, grassroots mobilisers and Umkhonto we Sizwe – the military wing.
Despite having prominent figures such as King and Nelson Mandela, the movements were successful, not because of monolithic leadership but because of concerted efforts to take ownership through multifaceted roles.
Different leadership roles in the ANC and US Civil Rights movement offered fresh air to keep the movements alive.
Kenya is at a monumental point where the Gen-Z movement – dubbed as partyless, tribeless and leaderless – is rewriting history in its call for good governance. The young people are doing this in ingenious ways that Kenya has never witnessed. So amorphous is the Gen-Z movement that its use for digital activism is giving rise to nascent ways of citizen dissent in Africa. Unlike other successful movements led by young people across the world, our Gen-Zs lack one key component – a decentralised leadership structure.
This might be gratifying in the short term, but exhaustive and counter-productive later.
The Arab Spring and the Hong Kong movements – also led by young people– momentarily lost steam due to lack of leaders to give direction. Even though they were electrifying and shook the political class, lack of clear leadership opened doors for infiltration, fragmentation and their eventual death. The Kenyan youth do not have time.
On the bright side, the Kenyan youth movement has energy, hegemony in the digital space, the tribeless messaging and other strengths. One of the reasons Gen-Zs movement cites for lack of leadership is deterring political betrayal and self-interest. It makes sense.
Fortunately, there is a formula to eliminate the trust deficit – polycentric leadership. The strategy that the Faith Odhiambo-led Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has adopted in assisting Gen-Zs is comparable to US Civil Rights movement tact by the Thurgood Marshall-led National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). This association offered pro bono legal services to those arrested for protesting against racial injustice. A historic win by NAACP was the Brown v Board of Education ruling that declared segregation in schools unconstitutional.
For Gen-Zs to win the fight against police brutality, corruption and extra-judicial killings, they should embrace leaders of professional bodies like the LSK, the Institute of Certified Public Accounts of Kenya (ICPAK) to audit budgeted corruption, the student leadership and religious heads.
This will bring in the professional human capital needed to take the fight from the streets to courts, town halls, universities and eventually the ballot in 2027. The movement needs to adopt multifaceted activism, keeping the government in check without unnecessary loss of lives.
ICPAK, for instance, can educate Gen-Zs on fiscal jurisprudence like the Public Finance Management Act and the tax code. LSK can offer pro bono legal aid, while the civil society and student bodies can marshal the energy and lead civic education ward by ward. This requires planning by some form of leadership.
The young Kenyans should engage leaders from different sectors and interest groups, not to talk with politicians but as a decentralised leadership, make demands, lead negotiations, and make unanimous decisions on behalf of millions of other Gen-Zs and the rest of Kenyans.
This approach worked in the US Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, with bodies such as the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.
In South Africa, the ANC movement was led by scholars such as Ruth First and Randall Robinson. Trade unions, the Church and the South African Students Organisation also helped end apartheid.
Popular online and offline Gen-Z personalities can shout, but noise alone cannot take the movement anywhere, especially when dealing with a regime that is hellbent on brutalising peaceful protesters.
The blood of well-intentioned young Kenyans that has been shed is too high a price to pay for deferred dreams.
Irungu is a doctorate student in Computer Science and Engineering, University of the District of Columbia, US. @GatambiaIrungu
