"But to get to our Land of Promise, there is a wilderness we must cross and there are giants we must slay."
Closing Address delivered at the 3rd National Youth Convention Kenyatta International Conference Centre Sunday, 12th August 2007
By NJONJO MUE Senior Legal Counsel
and Head of the Advocacy Programme Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen: I would like to congratulate you on the successful conclusion of the Third National Youth Convention.
Over the last two days, you have had occasion to discuss and debate the future of our country and the critical role that Kenya’s young people must play in reclaiming the fortunes of our land. Unfortunately, I was not able to join you until this afternoon, but going by what I have observed and heard in the short time I have been present, I know I can rest assured that the future of our country is in safe hands. Indeed, when I go to bed tonight, I shall be able to close my eyes and rest. I know
I can afford to dream of the country that my children will call home. Through the watches of the night, I will behold in my mind’s eye, a strong African country, united in its diversity with a vibrant economy and equitable distribution of resources; where every man, woman and child has the opportunity and the means to achieve his or her fullest potential and where justice and respect for human dignity shall be the basis of social behavior by both the citizen and the State alike.
I can already see a strong, united country, taking its place of leadership in regional and international affairs; setting the pace in political governance, economic growth, foreign policy, science and technology, and promoting fair trade. I see a green land where people are able to feed themselves, enjoying the fruits of the land while protecting the environment in the true realization of the fact that “we did not inherit this land from our parents; we have borrowed it from our children.” From Lamu to Lokichogio, from the Lake the blue shining sea, I behold all the peoples of this beloved country, in their different hues and colours living and working together side by side in mutually reinforcing and affirming communities across the land.
I see a land where justice is truly our shield and defender; where we shall resolve our disputes peacefully without resorting to violence. Where brother shall no longer hurt brother, nor a man lift his hand to strike his wife. Children shall play together in safety and shall have all the means to grow strong in mind, body and character, to become the men and women who will diligently apply their time, treasure and talent to serve their communities and their country faithfully.
But to get to our Land of Promise, there is a wilderness we must cross and there are giants we must slay.
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The picture of now is not altogether an encouraging one. Over the last few days, you have dissected the problems confronting us; challenges to our nationhood that threaten to rip our social fabric apart, including poverty, unemployment, insecurity, inequality, domestic violence, drugs and alcoholism, negative ethnicity and corruption. We have spoken ourselves hoarse about these giants in the past, so I shall not belabour the point here. Suffice it to say that it is time to move beyond the rhetoric to providing practical solutions.
A scene from the South African movie, Sarafina, comes to mind. Sarafina’s teacher, Mrs. Masumbuga, is discussing Sarafina’s idea for the school play. Referring to the still incarcerated Nelson Mandela, she says to Sarafina, “I like your idea for the school play… the prison gate swings wide open and the prisoner walks free…” after she allows herself a few moments of pause to savour the imaginary scene she comes back to reality, “… and then what?”
The history of our struggles in Kenya is a history of aborted revolutions primarily because we did not bother to ask and answer the question, “… and then what?” In 2002, the country united to remove an unpopular government. We all joined together in the new unofficial national anthem, “Yote yawezekana!” But because we did not pause to ask ourselves “… and then what?” as soon as the common enemy was defeated, we turned on each other and spent the next five years hurling insults on one another and emerged even more divided than we were when we embarked on this leg along the troubled journey to true nationhood. Kenya’s young leaders must avoid this mistake. We must have an agenda that goes beyond merely replacing the old guard.
I do not have answers for you, but some of the questions that we must ask ourselves include the following:
Our population is projected to rise to 60 million by 2030. 60% of these people will live in urban areas. How do we face the challenges of providing food, health, housing, security, education, sanitation and other social services? Are we prepared to introduce new thinking to tackling the challenges of modernity or are we going to stand by and watch as our towns and cities continue to become one big slum? What demands are we making on government to provide affordable services to its people in a sustainable way?
A recent survey shows that the majority of our young people dream of living in urban areas and of working in sectors other than agriculture. What are we doing to prepare to meet this challenge, by changing mindsets, making agriculture more attractive and building the skills and capacity of our young people to face the challenges of living in a globalized world? Another recent survey in Kabete and Gachoka constituencies indicate that young men are dropping out of school at alarming rates to engage in crime, miraa trade and drug trafficking. This has led to an imminent mental health crisis which is threatening to reverse the few gains made in development. In the cities - and among us here - alcohol has become the silent killer of our hopes and quiet stealer of our dreams. The problem of alcoholism and drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions as are the associated vices of violence, prostitution, gambling and pornography. These are challenges that especially face young people and if we are to safeguard our dream of recreating our republic, we must become our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper by holding one another accountable as to how we are individually safeguarding our dream by taking care of our own mental and physical health.
Having listened to some of the discourse this afternoon, I have to admit that I am a bit disturbed about the seeming obsession with power and position. While power is important because when properly used it enables us to proffer our point of view in the competitive marketplace of ideas and to implement progressive policies, there is need to point out that leadership is not just about position; it is about influence.
It would be a pity if we as young leaders waited until we become MPs or councilors before making a contribution. Each of us here is in a position to influence one or two people on a daily basis towards the direction we want our country to go in the project of recreating our republic. What’s more, there are countless opportunities to engage the holders of power and duty-bearers at local levels in creative ways of holding them to account for the way they exercise this power. In particular, there
currently exist gaps in the way devolved funds such as CDF and LATF are used and accounted for, and it behooves us to offer leadership to our communities in auditing how these funds are used. And there are myriad opportunities to grow in leadership by offering ourselves to serve in those unsung positions such as the PTAs, school boards of governors, trade unions, estate and village security committees, cooperative societies, CBOs, and so on, where we can develop our leadership skills away from the pressure of the national limelight. We should shun the idea of parachuting from the blue and ending up in Parliament when we have never led anything in our lives and have absolutely no track record except the ability to align ourselves with a particular tribal chieftain and riding on the wave of euphoria thattends to precede our national elections.
Currently a lot of young people have allowed themselves to become frustrated and despondent. They are alienated from structural correctives that exist but are ignored or cynically manipulated by the powers that be. But there is hope yet. Speaking just about human rights, there is a lot of machinery in place, nationally and internationally, for the promotion and protection of human rights which we can use to place our society on an irreversible trajectory towards becoming a human rights State – a State that not only respects human rights, but also upholds the right to be human. Kenya is a signatory to most major human rights treaties and the State is beginning to respond to pressure to be accountable to various mechanisms set under these treaties. But more remains to be done. There is need to push for the ratification of several protocols such as the African protocol on the rights of women.
Further, despite the alienation and despair that we sometimes feel as young people, times are changing. More and more, young persons are occupying key positions in
government, business and civil society. The youth are not short of role models. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights is an example of one institution that is led by young persons virtually from top to bottom, and is at the forefront of challenging old paradigms. While youth representation, especially in politics, is not what it should be, I invite young people represented at this Convention to participate in those structural correctives which are available to them, such as KNCHR. Your participation in these processes should not be seen as an alternative to the various ways in which you are already agitating for change, but as additional tools. You should feel free to engage with us and to share your concerns because your concerns contain crucial information that may not otherwise reach us and therefore become part of the workings of these structural correctives. Your voice should also be heard in challenging those elements of the political class that oppose the Commission’s efforts to hold them and the State accountable.
Finally, as we position ourselves to address the challenges of the future and as
we make our case for seeking positions of influence, we must ask ourselves, what is the sense of value that is driving our wanting to get into power? Leadership should be about more than just capturing seats. How have we been preparing ourselves to be that quality leader when the time comes? The late freedom fighter, Bildard Kaggia, is reported to have dismissed two young activists who visited him in his twilight years, seeking to know how they could contribute to the achievement of the Mau Mau dream. Said he, “Nyinyi hamna maana (you people are useless). You like good suits and you like seeking high positions regardless of what those positions do to your people. There is nothing you can do.”
This is a sad indictment of our generation, and coming from a veteran of the struggle for independence, it cannot be ignored. It is sadly the case that the Kenyan middle class seems obsessed with flashy cars, the latest models of cell phones and foreign football teams, instead of finding ways of giving leadership on the critical issues of our day. We have come to define the Kenyan dream as comprising a 1,2,3,4 lifestyle: 1 spouse, 2 children, a 3 bedroom house and a 4x4 car. As long as I can have and maintain these for my own nuclear family, the rest of the country can take care of itself. Our booming economy is characterized by ubiquitous developments of serviced apartments in up market suburbs whose key selling point, apart from the swimming pool, barbecue area and gym, is the ultramodern security system complete with electric fencing, controlled entry and exit, 24 hour patrols and CCTV cameras. Am I the only one who wonders for how long these high walls we are building around us will keep the people of Kibera, Mathare, Kawangware and Korogocho at bay? Might the Good Book have a point when it cautions us that ‘He who builds a high wall invites destruction’?
This brings me back to the question of values. As we confront the challenges
of the future and position our country to be a leader not only in the region but also in the world, I hasten to point out that we will not get to the Promised Land if half of us are fettered and half of us are free.
We need to shift decisively from a world where a small minority lord it over the
majority. Many of us here are privileged in many ways; we must bring the rest of our sisters and brothers with us. For as Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us long ago, none of us is free until all of us are free. The values that should drive the image of Kenya’s future that I described at the beginning of this address are the same values that inspired our forefathers and mothers when they took up home-made guns half a century ago in a blatantly unequal contest to shout from the rooftops that they too were created in the image of God. They are the values of dignity, justice, honesty, integrity and hard work. They are the values of humility and mutual respect and the equitable distribution of the burdens and the benefits of belonging. Our struggle must be anchored on the desire to build a society that celebrates its strong while taking care of its weak; where hard work is rewarded and crime is duly punished, no matter the social status of the criminal. A country that is bound together by its strong faith in God and the inalienable pride of being proudly African….
As we aspire to transform our country into a heritage of splendor, and as we continue to confront the challenges facing our young democracy, we as young leaders have a critical role to play. We must be prepared to march out in front when the majority prefers the comfort of the ranks.
Our leadership must become the voice of a new generation of Kenyans, which are emerging to answer new historical challenges; the voice of young men and women who will define themselves as leaders by their capacity to identify the issues that unite us as a nation. These are the true patriots who will raise the banner of Kenya and bid us to confidently follow, as we march together into the future, proud and united, one nation under God. I thank you.
Njonjo Mue
12 August 2007. Njonjo Mue Legal Counsel / Principal Human Rights Officer Campaigns & Advocacy Programme Kenya National Commission on Human Rights 1st Floor, CVS Plaza, Lenana Road P.O. Box 74359-00200 Nairobi TEL: 254-20-2717908 / 2717928 / 2712624 FAX: 254-20-2716160 njonjo@knchr.org www.knchr.org
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