As has been said numerously, the Kenyan Nation is a time bomb waiting to explode. The most troubling part regarding the announcement of examination results for both primary and secondary school leavers, is the the huge percentage of individuals that cannot be absorbed by the system in traditional openings. Other less traditional openings are struggling to get a foothold which makes the situation precarious. Over the last fifteen years, an average of about 200,000 individuals per year have found themselves with no where to go on completion of primary school and secondary school, going by the figures released by the Minister of Education. This modestly translates to an unsettling figure of 3,000,000 men and women that the system has turned it's back on , shoved into obscurity to fend for themselves. And to think that these are the lucky ones. Lucky in the sense that they attained a certain level of education.

A substantial number of young Kenyans drop out of school or have not gone to school at all because of financial constraints. A modest estimation of the number of people in this group is 6,000,000 , considering that the population of Kenya is approximately 30 million people, and that those born after independence in 1963 constitute about 60% of the population. Even elite achievers are in dire straits because employment opportunities are scarce and many are getting by doing menial tasks. Kenyan politician J.M. Kariuki's forecast of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars made in the 1970s has come to be, only that the proportions now are 30 billionaires and 30 million beggars.

No one has paid attention to this trend of events and what we find ourselves with now is a population of largely young, energetic, intelligent, disenchanted and bitter individuals, rearing to go. This is good only if the latter two are removed.

This is the plight of what Njonjo Mue refers to as the "Uhuru Generation" i.e. the generation born after independence in 1963, in his brilliant essay "UHURU GENERATION: TAKING A STAND ON HIGH GROUND!" (http://www.africawired.com/KCAaddress.htm). It is also indeed the plight of a generation that is "so close to knowing the deep fears, emotional turmoil, and desperation suffered by the 'the people' " , as described by Mkawasi Mcharo in her equally brilliant essay "Stand in the Gap !" (http://www.africawired.com/stand_gap.htm). The two essays give a clear depiction of the hopes , fears and aspirations of many Kenyans.

The Uhuru generation to which I belong, is in dire straits. It is a generation that has been overtaken by events and one that has stood still in time. It is however time to look within ourselves and seek solutions to our problems instead of merely shifting blame to the pre-Uhuru generation, indeed our fathers and forefathers. How is that we can correct earlier errors ? How is it that we can improve on our plight ?

As educated and as widely exposed as many of us are, we are still very far from making our mark on society. Apart from well spoken english and bright ideas, little else can be said for the Uhuru generation. For instance many of us still stay on properties acquired by our parents. There has been very little growth in wealth. It is extremely alarming, yet common to find fully grown, sound and stable, men and women aged 35 - 40 years staying on properties acquired by their parents, yet these are individuals earning incomes or are fully capable of making ends meet. How can we make any claim to leadership ? How can we be entrusted with the management of the vast resources in this country if we are incapable of managing our resources at a personal level ? It appaers that the the Uhuru generation needs to be weaned and brought up again. It's time to get real.

Even South Africa's Nelson Mandela who many young Kenyans admire, only really felt like a man when he acquired his small property in Soweto in keeping with true African tradition (source: "A long walk to freedom", by Nelson Mandela). This is something he achieved in his 30s, a struggling attorney at law, a marked firebrand by the establishment and at the height of apartheid injustices against blacks. We do not have much of an excuse. We are by and large failing to make our mark socially, intellectually, economically and politically, because we have disregarded certain crucial values imparted to us by the pre-Uhuru generation. Our focus and values have changed for the worse. We have failed to pay homage to the teachings of our forefathers and are paying the price for this.

Uhuru generation marriages are crumbling and are as meaningless as those in the west. Intellectualism and constructive activism are at an all time low. We have failed to draw from the example of the youthful Jomo Kenyatta campaigning for land rights, or the youthful Oginga Odinga campaigning for business opportunities for Africans, or the youthful Tom Mboya campaigning for political change. Listening to the speeches made by legends like Oginga Odinga and Tom Mboya in 1950s , one is struck by the brilliance of delivery, the eloquence and the clarity of focus. We were once watching one such recording of Tom Mboya at the Kenya National Archives six years ago in revered silence, when one individual broke the silence by remarking " no wonder he had to go". These were brilliant individuals ahead of their time. Very few individuals can match their intellect after 40 years, and even after the advances that have taken place in those 40 years.

The Uhuru generation is also yet to make a mark politically. The so called "young turks" failed as miserably in the 1992 and 1997 general elections, as they will with the doomed "Mungaano wa Mageuzi" (kiswahili for "movement for change"). Something crucial is lacking, something such as that that drove the legendary Mau Mau movement, led in later years by the youthful Dedan Kimathi, another credit to the pre-Uhuru generation. Mau Mau has variously been dismissed as the work of inconsequential rag tag peasants. If this is so then why was it necessary to declare a state of emergency in 1952 ? No other state of emergency has been declared in the history of Kenya though one appears imminent. If this was again so, why was it necessary to fly in the the U.K. based Lancashire fusiliers to quell the rebellion ? Why was villagisation and screening necessary if Mau Mau was so inconsequential ? How can we throw a grand commemoration of Lord Baden Powell when Kimathi's remains still lie in Kamiti Maximum Prison, and when hundreds of former Mau Mau fighters and their families languish in poverty and oblivion ?

Mau Mau was a nationalist movement aimed at removing the oppressive white colonial government and replacing it with a just government of indigenous Kenyans. It was about regaining our heritage. Some actions by Mau Mau are unforgivable but it will always remain that Mau Mau was a just movement aimed at redeeming this Nation. Nothing so frightened the British and indeed nothing contributed so significantly to the hasty initiation of independence negotiations. I am not advocating for a Mau Mau like uprising and indeed one is not necessary, but are portraying the lack of principle and committment in the Uhuru generation. An old man who was there at the height of Mau Mau once narrated an interesting episode to me. He told me how one of the fighters attempted to rape one of the girls who used to place food for the fighters at strategic points. The girl successfully fought off the fighter who in an act of savage counter-retaliation, brutally assaulted and killed the girl. Word of this reached the war council in the midst of the forest, which led to the fighter being court martialled and beheaded. The stakes were too high to allow for such hideous, abhorrent acts. One gets a general idea of how Mau Mau operated.

The onus is therefore on the Uhuru generation to prop up itself and this Nation by utilising the virtues of those mentioned above who came before us. One can only be taken as seriously as one presents himself or herself. The Uhuru generation needs itself now more than at any other post independence period in the history of this country. The solutions must be in built and homegrown. The outlook and situation is bleak and only we can correct this. I know of an architect who is working as a bank clerk because prospects in in his field are bleak. The irony of this is that when he sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination 10 years ago, he emerged amongst the top 100 students in the country. Education in Kenya has lost most of the glamour and significance it had in earlier years. It should however not be abandoned but restructured to cater for the needs of a restless and agitated populace. Inevitably and invariably, small scale enterprise will carry this country through the the next 20 years, indeed through the next generation. A big part of the solution must be sought here and the Diaspora which numbers about 800,000 globally will and are playing a crucial role in this.

One thing the majority of us will however not inherit from our forefathers even if we wanted to, are the plum opportunities in the elite Multi National Corporations, which makes the case for small enterprise all the more pressing. Vast impressive complexes with vast in built resources such as East African Breweries Limited, Brooke Bond tea estates in Kericho, Del Monte (formerly Kenya Canners), Kenya Ports Authority, Kakuzi plantations, British American Tobacco Kenya Limited and Rea Vipingo plantations will become a thing of the past. Other leading Multi Nationals like Barclays Bank of Kenya Limited and Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya Limited can only absorb a limited number of individuals and contribute only so much to the exchequer. The trend globally is downsizing and Kenya is no exception to this. Many of us will literally and symbolically find ourselves "scrubbing toilets and scrubbing them well" over the next 20 years to borrow from the great American leader Martin Luther King Jnr. , who many young Kenyans also admire. These are tasks we must perform with urgency for our sake and for the sake of coming generations of Kenyans. A new Nation will only be built by actions and not by general elections, handouts and mobile phones.

Twenty one years ago the world watched one of the most spectacular performances in boxing history when two of boxing's greatest legends, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran, met in the ring. The grace and skill of the fight are legendary. The fight drew to a dramatic close when Mexican, Roberto Duran declared "No mux ! No mux !"

( No more ! No more! ), in what are now immortal words. He had had enough. It is now time for the Uhuru generation to put a stop to the mediocrity and move on to and with something much more meaningful. As to whether we shall echo the great Roberto Duran in our native kiswahili ( "Imetosha ! Imetosha !" ), or not, is not so much of the point. The point is that we have taken enough of a self-inflicted beating and it's time to move on.

Created on ... March 04, 2001