REVOLUTION X

 By Kevin Kogo

It went from Keyboard Revolution to the streets of Nairobi and now 'X' spaces. All along, as our banners and placards screamed leaderless, tribeless, partyless, we deluded ourselves from a simple reality: we marched to the gates of parliament as a result of online influence, advertised, mobilized, and to a large extent facilitated by popular online influencers.

Truth is, tweets and stances of these individuals hyped, slowed, moralized, or demoralized the cause. All along, they have been the de facto face and voice of the Gen Z Movement.

Faces that we can see and faces that we know. It catches me by no surprise that Osama Otero jumped ship at the 11th hour. He has been a victim of abduction; he was at City Mortuary to see the lifeless body of his 22-year-old friend lying on cold slabs beside twenty-something other protestors. He has seen the system with its masks off, the ugliness of injustice, yet all the same, he has chosen money over sanity.

As Otero sits with the president's communication team pretending to balance between common tweeps and politicians, Beasley Kamau, his protest aide, is being buried by broken parents. Silently goes to dust the dreams, life, and chants of a 22-year-old.

But a revolution without betrayals is no authentic revolution. Humans are just humans and as Nyakundi puts it, "Revolution needs people who have the heart of the people."

Our own history reminds us of chiefs like Mbiu Koinange, homeguards like Mugo wa Cucu, cooks like Kangu wa Mutheu, men of cloak like John Kimani... who were bought or bribed to suffocate the Mau Mau rebellion, kill, and preach against their own brothers and children for the favor of a foreign god, land, and cattle that originally belonged to them.

So, worry less; betrayals solidify the cause. They remind us of the importance of commitment and integrity, bond us, and purify the pack. Along the way, many will fall under the cunning web of corrupt politicians. Don't let it break or bother you.

It should be our first priority to build a system to handle such blows, create an amniotic sac around the cause to absorb any shock. History will avenge the betrayals for us.

People like Osama Otero are the Mbiu Koinanges of 2024. They were there with us when the water cannons cruised through Muindi Mbingu Street. They were there when we made the first stretch to parliament gates. They were there when the police lobbed tear gas and followed up with a round of live bullets when we were just trying to retrieve a body of our own.

They know David Chege died with the Kenyan flag in his hand. They know Eric Shieni, Erickson Mutisya, Beasley Kogi, Rex Masai, Evans Kiratu... died for only asking what was rightfully theirs.

All the same, they were bought like mangoes with blood money so all you should ask is, "Were they really right for the cause?"