There is an emerging fashionable trend mimicking radical political activism by the so-called GenZs, seeking to turn their countries upside-down, morphing into criminal gangs as seen last year in Kenya, and this week in Tanzania taking advantage of election fallouts. During the 2020-2021 Uganda election, a group led by NUP purveyors, tried to create anarchy through street battles with the police, army and publicly assaulting, real or perceived political rivals but the goons were eventually neutralized through a hard tackle. They have now returned in this election on mantra “ Protest vote” foolishly hoping to use intimidation, blackmail and necked violence to have their way even when Ugandans may say no to them at the ballot box.

In Kenya, following a tightly fought general election pitting William Somei Ruto, and Raila Amolo Odinga, President Ruto, the winner, introduced an economic reform law to spur revenue collection, which the political elite opposed, and tried to exploit youth concerns to oust a democratically elected government. For weeks, security forces in Kenya fought running battles with criminal gangs posing as GenZs sowing mayhem, wanton destruction and burning down whatever came to their sight. And they wrecked all this havoc, including ransacking parliament even after President Ruto withdrew the controversial legislation, and instead demanded his political scalp.

The youths forcefully tore-down parliament parameter wall, ransacked it and forced a sitting to flee, all in the name of being ‘aggrieved’ with the status qou, yet destroying the very foundation of their country’s existence, attempting to rend Kenya ungovernable. It took heavy-brutal-handedness for calm to be restored in East Africa’s largest economy, and in its trail the loss of innocent lives, bloodshed, and sowing the seeds of a culture of impunity by the young people, which has now been wholesomely copied in Tanzania. Tanzania, that has been stable, secure, peaceful, and a good example for the whole of Africa, is now shaken to the core, but Tanzania must never let to fail like other African countries under whatever reason.

While bad policies and governance should be opposed and vigorously challenged by citizens, old and young, it is counter-productive for the so-called aggrieved to burn down their countries particularly as they are egged on by the neo-colonial forces seeking to keep Africa underground. It appears that the American and European meddlers into Africa, having failed with the so-called Arab Spring of fifteen years ago, that distablised northern African, and sowed fire and ash, sending hundreds of thousands to death on the high seas towards Europe, have not been content, and are now returning through instigating the GenZs.

Under the diabolical guise of spreading democracy, clean elections, good governance, human rights, quality jobs, and equitable prosperity which they never bequeathed when they were firmly in control as the colonialists for seven decades, they now return but only as pretenders falsely believing that Africans are too stupid to see through the scheme. African leaders and elders owe their people deals, but the GenZs should never allow themselves to be exploited or used to once again destroy, subjugate, and misdirect Africa’s emerging renaissance.

We should always remember that those shenanigans took advantaged of our fore-fathers using shades of religion to capture and maintain control of our collective minds, and have so succeeded in portraying Africans as inferior in every respect. Africa, and Uganda in particular should say never-again, to foreign meddlers whatever sweetener they may offer. Uganda, has steadily emerged from deep black holes after four decades of political violence, social and economic decadence with so much blood poured down public spaces that we should learn to resolve disagreements peacefully. Uganda GenZs, both in rural and urban ought to know the opportunities they seek cannot be brought through violence, and hence should avoid the language of destruction.