Whereas peaceful demonstration is a constitutional right in almost all countries, violence, and insurrection are prohibited, and no state can tolerate them. The protests in Kenya against the Financial Bill 2024 were marred with violence and unconstitutional behavior.
The violent protestors were recorded burning buildings, looting supermarkets, and attacking the homes of legislators to do all sorts of evil.
The most disgusting part of it is that, however unconstitutional it is, opposition leaders in Uganda applauded and congratulated Generation Z for their actions, a sign that our opposition leaders are just hungry for power and wouldn’t care using unconstitutional means to attain it.
In our African countries, peaceful protests cannot be achieved since protesters look at protests as an opportunity to steal and vandalize properties owned by those they hate or disagree with. The protestors are poor, and so it is hard for them to sustain the protest without stealing, which is why most of the protests have been unconstitutional and should be nipped in the bud.
However genuine the protest may be, the cause loses meaning when the protestors digress and become violent. Most of the protests in Africa are violent; the narrative of peaceful protests has not yet been achieved in Africa, and it is high time we got it right. The cause is always genuine, orchestrated by poor leadership, corruption, and violations of fundamental human rights, but usually hijacked by selfish opposition politicians who want to use the protests as a ladder to attain power.
Ideally, the peaceful demonstrations are designed for developed countries where citizens know their constitutional rights and poverty levels are low. The Kenya scenario should teach opposition leaders in Africa that the youth need more guidance than hoodwinking and using them for personal gains.
Most of the protest leaders lack ideology and therefore have nothing to instill in these youths. In countries like Libya, Sudan, and other Arab countries, the protests have been hijacked by the selfish West, and what is initially aimed at solving small problems ends up creating big problems that take forever to solve.
It makes no sense when small issues end up destroying investments and bringing civil unrest that creates refugees and asylum seekers in other countries.
The youth and the opposition leaders should embrace dialogue, tolerance, and other civil means to solve these problems. Our countries belong to us, and we do not have any other home country. It is up to us to build them or destroy them; violent protests will not make our countries future homes for us and our children.
Many African countries have been victims of such violent protests and have been destroyed beyond repair. The selfish West does not love our countries more than we do; they fuel violence to serve their interests.
