Former IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe's New year message to the Kenyan Youth has stirred the hearts of many.
In a long post on her social media pages on December 31, 2019, Akombe admitted that the country underwent negative changes largely at a time when she and her generation had a chance to make the necessary changes but did not.
"This is your decade. We squandered ours and many more decades before. We reasoned that if only we lay low and worked hard, If only we studied hard and accumulated degrees, If only we remained professional and stuck to our lines of work, things would change, our leaders would fix the problems," she stated.
She narrated that many in her generation, herself included, had a skewed view of how the world around them was configured and spent time fighting vain battles even as things went form bad to worse.
"When we mustered a little courage, and had running battles with the police, for a new Katiba (constitution), we retreated to the boardrooms and conference rooms and trusted our elders to implement it and protect it, we were wrong," she wrote.
"I and my age group, let our environment be plundered, I and my age group, sought private solutions to public problems, Private schools, private hospitals, private parks, private beaches... We abated the transfer of public goods to 8000 individuals and crumbs for the rest," she further narrated.
In the long post, Akombe also admitted that it was her and her generation that joined rogue institutions with a view to instituting change, but on getting on board, they found themselves being the ones changing instead.
He urged the Kenyan youth to seize the opportunities given to them in the New Year to ensure that they would protect their future and bring change to the world where previous leaders had failed.
Her message resonated with many who expressed their optimism and commended the timeliness of the message by the former IEBC commissioner.
"Happy new year! The youth of this country need salvation from their tribal political demagogues so that they can start thinking about their future which is being auctioned as they watch and cheer!" MweneKabu James posed.
"We the young can't promise to change it but we shall try our best and build on where you leave," Tom Onyango weighed in.
"Powerful and inspiring, the youth, employed, underemployed and unemployed, the middle class and the poorly paid must demand a better life and take up leadership. They have cheated us that you're leaders of tomorrow. You are leaders of today," Joshua Adede stated.
