WANANCHI OPINION: Is Kenya breeding a reserve army of labour? Enter Gen Z

Karl Marx warned about the danger of creating the "Reserve Army of labour" where the ranks of the unemployed who – through the absence of any meaningful choice – are prepared to work for very low wages in temporary jobs. 

His thesis on the Class Struggle between the bourgeoisie and Proletariat and the control of the means of production is playing out before our eyes. The rise of Gen Z is by no means an accident; one could have predicted it ages ago.

For a long time, Azimio leader Raila Odinga played a galvanizing role in politics, keeping the Reserve Army away from the periphery of power. He was the voice of protests. 

The debate about corruption, pilferage of resources, and nepotism was associated with Raila’s Struggle.

Once he exited the political scene, there was a visible vacuum in rising against perceived oppression, and the Gen Zs readily filled it. The Leaderless and eclectic Reserve Army, depending on TikTok for persuasion and convictions, is more dangerous than an active nuclear facility. 

No other agitation has reached what the Gen Z did. No one could have ever imagined breaching the walls of Parliament; let alone invading the chambers and visiting the office of the Chief Justice of Kenya; the two arms of the government. Gen Z did it.

Matters have also been worsened by reports of torture that occurred in Githurai night. 

Gen Z has presented a consequential period in the history of Kenya; rewriting of political agitation, a mixture of teenage exuberance, style, streetwise occupation, energy and restive public; a debt-ridden economy, and apprehensive parliamentarians.

The involvement of religious facilities in accommodating the protesters shows a wavering sign of sympathy with Gen Z. 

Abductions, on the other hand, show panic in some government quarters. 

Make no mistake; Gen Z has entered a new period of political reformation in Kenya. Whether this protest will upend politics during an election, no one knows.

I have worked in war-torn countries like Somalia for over a decade and can smell tragedy in the air before it comes. The president must take a strategic retreat, listen to Kenyans, who overwhelmingly support Gen Zs, or face the consequences of the reserve army takeover.