One of the most enduring stories I read as a youngster, which has remained etched in my mind, is Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. I still remember the vivid picture it painted in my imagination of a man who, tired of the world, wanders into the mountains, drinks a mysterious potion, and falls asleep for twenty years. When he finally wakes up, he finds that everything has changed. The American Revolution has taken place. The world has moved on without him.
I have often returned to this story, but lately, I find that it no longer belongs in the world of fiction alone. It speaks, rather eerily, to something happening in Kenya today though published in 1819! Like Rip, many in our political class, and indeed, many of us in older generations, risk sleeping through a revolution. We are not asleep in the literal sense, but we are deeply disengaged, dulled by the comforts of routine. We are distracted by the rituals of power and position, and sometimes too nostalgic for a past that no longer serves us.
Meanwhile, something powerful is happening quietly. It is being led not in boardrooms or on soapboxes, but in digital spaces by young Kenyans we often call Generation Z. This generation does not just chant in the streets. But when they do so, they make unforgatable statement. Their revolution comes clothed in memes, viral hashtags, 15-second videos, and digital campaigns. Yet behind the humour and innovation lies serious intent. They are asking hard, uncomfortable questions that many of us, for years, conveniently side-stepped or dressed up in political rhetoric.
Why is corruption still so normalised? Why does leadership often feel more like performance than service? I have the privilege of teaching and interacting with many young people in our universities daily. I must confess that they are not sleeping. They are not apathetic. They are, in fact, very awake, and very aware. They see through political doublespeak. They laugh at hypocrisy, even as they suffer its consequences. They are building new languages of resistance, courage, and creativity.
I have heard many in my generation dismiss them as “lost,” “disrespectful,” “entitled.” That stings with the venom of insensitivity. These youngsters see us dish out letters of employment in public for positions they should have competed for! They see us display opulance with resources we cannot account for. Those who studied medicine amongst them cannot practice because we have not set aside money for their internship! Let us face it. We have let them down. But worse still we are too proud to admit that we no longer hold the moral high ground to give them direction.
The story of Rip Van Winkle carries a painful lesson to us. He slept through the change and woke up to a world that had no place for him. I fear the same could happen to many in Kenya’s establishment today. If we continue to dismiss this generation’s cries, we will wake up to a country reshaped by forces we neither guided nor understood. We will find ourselves mere spectators. But there is hope.
I think what this generation is doing is not just tearing down, it is in fact building. I see this in the content creators who amplify voices that try to push back and the tech innovators finding Kenyan solutions to Kenyan problems. I read meaning in the acts of daring artists and the digital watchdogs.
I think the sesmic shifts are not loud, but potent. This is as much a cultural process as it is political. The youth are resisting tribalism, questioning patriarchy, and seeking truth, not just in theory but in daily life. They are not asking to be saved as the political class thinks, they are demanding to be heard.
I write this not as a critic from the outside, but as one who is reflecting deeply as I read the times. I am fully aware of the power of numbers. The median age in Kenya is 19.8 years. What does this tell you? This is Kenya’s Rip Van Winkle moment. It is not just the political class that must wake up. It is all of us. We cannot afford the luxury of sleep, not now.
Prof. Egara Kabaji is a writer, educationist and researcher based at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology and Vice President of the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA)
By Prof Egara Kabaji