Will New Young Turks Avoid Fate of Predecessors?

As Raila Odinga rides into the sunset years of his political career, there is little doubt that he turned out to be the first among equals of the so called “young Turks” of the 1990s. Mainly from the FORD movement but with peers elsewhere, the group included among others Paul Muite, James Orengo, Anyang’ Nyong’o, Mukhisa Kituyi, Kiraitu Murungi, Farah Maalim, Martha Karua, Gitobu Imanyara, Koigi Wamwere, Kijana Wamalwa, George Anyona and Katama Mkangi.

Spawned of the second liberation movement, this youngish group of ambitious political activists threatened to upset the status quo, capture power and introduce radical reforms in our political landscape. They would eventually fail to decisively capture power by never winning the presidency. The adoption of a new constitution in 2010 is perhaps the greatest achievement of this cohort although they are no longer the drivers of its implementation.

Two major factors contributed to their failure to ascend to the presidency. First, an internecine war to become the de facto leader of the group and eventually president proved costly. Characterized by feelings of betrayal, jealousy and resentment, it led to splits, defections and creation of a plethora of weak smaller parties from which each one hoped to win. When they realized this would not work, they opted to join hands in coalitions devoid of ideology other than “power by all means”. This was the case with the NDP-KANU merger and later the birth of NARC.

Joining forces with KANU and therefore elements of the status quo was the second main undoing of the group. Since NARC took power in 2002, it has been impossible to distinguish a major party that can purely boast a reform agenda given the history of key members. No doubt, these representatives of the status quo have been instrumental in fundraising for campaign war chests hence the inability for the main parties to dispense with them. In the process, they have managed to keep the young Turks of the 1990s away from the presidency with the one who came closest being Raila Odinga. Besides, they have successfully managed to engage young Turks from the 90s in their tainted ways to the extent that the high esteem with which Kenyans once viewed them all but dwindled.   

First forward to 2014 and we have the Jubilee coalition that takes pride in its mantra of a digital generation leadership under President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto. Having played critical roles in the Kenyan politics from their KANU days, it would however be difficult to view the duo as successors to the 1990s young Turks. Rather, the heirs of that cohort are newer faces in both Jubilee and CORD coalitions. The likes of Kipchumba Murkomen, Kindiki Kithure, Hassan Joho, Hassan Omar, Ababu Namwamba, Alfred Mutua, Kenneth Okoth, Agostino Neto, Johnson Sakaja, Naisula Lesuuda, Priscilla Nyokabi, Mary Emaase, and Rachael Shebesh are the new kids on the block.

Have they learned from the mistakes of their predecessors as they navigate the rough an unforgiving sea that is Kenyan politics?