Linking to Colonial Legacies
To understand the Gen Z movement as it manifests today, we must first recognise their foundational linkages to colonisation and colonial legacies. Kenya’s history is characterised by profound injustice by colonial authorities and the state, resilient resistance of communities especially the youth, and state violence through the police and military. Colonial rule in Kenya, particularly under British imperialism, was characterised by brutal exploitation, land dispossession, and the imposition of racial hierarchies that entrenched inequality and subjugation of Kenyan communities.
Some of the injustices by colonial authorities include the implementation of policies such as The Land Ordinance of 1902 and the establishment of native reserves, which forcibly displaced and marginalised communities from their ancestral lands. This systematic dispossession led to resistance among Kenyan communities, through various uprisings and movements for self-determination, most notably the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s. The Mau Mau fighters, predominantly drawn from the Kikuyu community, challenged colonial systems demanding independence and land rights through armed struggle.
In response to these resistance movements, the colonial authorities used severe tactics of repression and state violence. The police and military forces were used to suppress the movements through arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The legacy of state violence perpetrated during colonial times has continued into Kenya's post-independence era, and has significantly influenced the form and shape of security forces in Kenya.
Under successive governments, especially during Moi’s era, the police and military were tools of political control, using violence to intimidate the movement. Cases of arbitrary arrests, torture and violent crackdown on protests were very common. Stories of the activities that took place at Nyayo House, where political prisoners and protestors were detained are deeply horrifying.
‘Colonial legacies, be it by the French rule or British imperialism, define so much of their previous colonies governance systems today. These legacies are foundational to security responses and are deeply rooted in all aspects of state ruling - having carried their violence into current governmental systems and institutions in different forms.’ - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
Aluta Continua/ The Struggle Continues
The Gen Z movement that started off as peaceful protests for economic justice through the call for lawmakers to reject the Finance Bill of 2024 have been marked by human rights violations such as police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and the militarization of public action. Just like our forefathers resisted the injustices, the Kenyan youth are standing up for their rights, defying the culture of silence against impunity and demanding an end to systemic violence and impunity. Similarly, the state upholds colonial legacies, repressing the rights and opinions of its citizens and using violence to silence its citizens.
‘It is vital to understand that colonial legacies are not merely influential. They are rather foundational to the existence of current systems, as previous colonisers ensured that these systems are rooted in residual colonial structures to ensure easier manipulation and foreign interference, even after ‘independence.’ - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
Yet, complicity in upholding colonial legacies extends beyond the state. Social norms and narratives, including those perpetuated by media and Western journalists, often depict African youth as inherently violent, shaping public discourse and perceptions of the movement. The silence of development partners who advocate for youth empowerment is particularly alarming, underscoring the need for financial autonomy and self reliance in the pursuit of justice and freedom.
‘Narratives are crucial, transformative, and influential. This is the reason I created YTN, and the reason I specifically wanted young people to change the narrative themselves. Despite years and years of advocacy towards changing the narrative on young people being violent, there seems to be a certain bias towards turning a blind eye to such understanding, especially when these young people are African.’ - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
The challenges faced by Kenyan youth are not unique; across the African continent, young people are mobilising against the exploitation of natural and human resources, demanding what should be a given - a fair and dignified life.
‘Young Africans today continue to face a multilayered challenge in advocating for their rights, and demanding what is naturally inherently given to youth from other Western countries. This intersectionality of different systems and power dynamics that are already alienating in nature are reinforcing inequalities, and young Africans, despite their efforts to push back, still stand alone though together but alone in the resistance of powerful heavily dominated foreign monopolies.’ - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
Call to Action
If we are to move forward, and truly capitalise on the people’s power to transform our societies, we must start to engage in public and social discourse from a decolonial perspective.
‘What young people need to realise today, especially now, is that we are at a crossroads. The world is shifting geopolitically and this is the moment in time to change the narrative, to transform current alienating spaces and to dismantle colonial legacies.’ - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
We must always ask ourselves, ‘Is this what we want our society and continent to be and look like? Or are these ideas and norms imposed on us by our former colonial masters?
We cannot bring justice without understanding the roots of the injustice in our communities.
I call upon every single African young person to learn, be informed, ask questions, participate, and adopt a decolonial lens to every issue you face. We need to understand the system to be able to dismantle it, and YTN is here exactly for that! This is our chance, we are presented with a small window of opportunity to truly transform narratives. Let's do our research, deconstruct, rebuild and strengthen new systems. Knowledge is power, and knowledge begins with every one one of us. I urge you all to collectively reject these legacies, and work TOGETHER for a better Africa. - Balkis Chaabane, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Narratives (YTN)
I dare say, we cannot build a peaceful, just and equitable society until we deconstruct our identities, values and beliefs to reflect the spirit of Ubuntu and collective action.
‘I am because we are.’
And so if my freedom is connected to yours, how then can we as the African people build solidarity that liberates our continent and all of our people, leaving no one behind?
***I’ll be honest with you, three paragraphs into writing this article, I realized this would be a long read, so I've divided it into three parts. Stay tuned for the next analysis of social movements and the Gen Z movement in Kenya. Do you wish to sponsor my next article? Email me at mwevyn@gmail.com to discuss how we can collaborate!***
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Wevyn
