SECESSION CALLS AND HOW THE YOUNG MIND CAN NAVIGATE THROUGH

Across social media and traditional media platforms are timelines littered with scores of secession calls.Kenya, the largest and most progressive economy in East Africa is gradually finding itself in an unfamiliar territory, seceding calls from a section of the country's regions, the territory that Spain is slowly coming into terms with, this apparently arising due calls by Catalans who want to secede from the larger Spain.So why do we find ourselves after fifty four years of building  project Kenya suddenly being lured to a destabilizing path and the one that would mean tearing up the country along ethnic lines and voting patterns? initially brought into the public domain as an intellectual public discourse, an alternative to addressing the real issues affecting the nation, secession has turned out to be a goldmine for opportunistic politicians who are looking for political capital.Caught between this exciting and potentially explosive situation are the youths who form a majority of the country's population and voters.

Should the youth engage in the secession debate? my standard generic response to this question would be an outright no and yes, i think the timing of the debate is one that needs a careful analysis and an effective action plan.Youths should only engage the debate on the lines of its origin which apparently appears to be having undertones of economic and political marginalisation of other communities in the country.The current turn of events has been shaped by the political and economic marginalisation of other communities by successive regimes.

Another interesting phenomena worth debating about would be the current crop of political leadership, quite stunning is the stark differences in the way the secession debate has been carried.While some proponents of secession agree that the country should be divided into voting patterns some disagree secession should be on the lines of willing ethnic communities this has consequently reinforced the long held view that behind the calls for secession are attempts by the greedy and tribal political class to further their political interests.On the ruling side of the political class is the apparent lack of concerted effort to have a nationally inclusive leadership and rectify some of the historical injustices perpetrated by former regimes as such national unity is only possible if appropiate legislations and mechanisms are put in place to correct the many mistakes that have been commited during the making of project Kenya.

Youths around the country can only be beneficial if they come out and initiate bold national conversations on issues that threaten  the existence of our motherland and the territorial integrity on which it was found.One area in which such debate should be centered on is the devolution of more powers and resources to the devolved units this would reduce the unnecessary attention the power at the national level is attracting and the struggles that it ignites.Youths can be a pedestal through which this change in our political landscape can be realised. Through intense lobbying and objective national debates the youths can turn around the conversation about secession which is rather a blockade to solutions facing our country and embark on a reform centered debate sorrounding our political,economic and social institutions.