Push Gen Z Push Harder

By David G Maillu

There possibly cannot be a better way of presenting the Gen-Zee revolutionary movement in Kenya than how it has been delivered in this novel by David G Maillu. Though the narrative is highly politically charged, the work retains a remarkable literary approach to the struggle for expanded democratic possibilities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ComMattersKenya
• Release date: Oct 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227574114

Book preview

The

GEN-Z

Push

By

David G Maillu

1

Matanga was exhaustedly hungry and bitter. But he was suffering without bitterness for a noble reason course. He felt patriotic and played patriotism proudly in whatever stand he took. Nearly the whole afternoon had been lost to a prolonged waiting for the sponsor of their special WhatsApp group, the GEN-Z alias GEN-Zee alias GEN-7 that is cut out for addressing the fate of the young generation within the greedy, selfish, corrupt, kleptomania and extravagant ruling class that had taken the youth at ransom. Virtually, many such groups were springing up and scattered out in the city and countrywide delicately coordinated from a central place.

That group of forty-seven young men had been holed up somewhere in the Nairobi East Lands at the back of a church where a good Samaritan had fed them for lunch with Coca-Cola and loaves of bread for lunch. The Good Samaritan was stunned when, before opening the cartons of the food, he said, Let’s pray. Voices burst rejecting his prayer, No, no, no! A loud voice screamed, The church has gone to bed with the oppressor. Take your prayer to the State House and pray for Ruto.

Okay, okay! the shocked man pleaded.

At the same time, besides the brainstorming session, there was an election in which, by his tribeless birth, Matanga was unanimously elected to chair the group. However, despite the consensus that the group should be tribally colourless, some issues still subscribed to tribal pockets, either because a particular sponsor came from a particular tribe whose members thought they deserved to be given credit that, of course, created biased conclusions. Or, because someone came from a bigger tribe, and wanted to be listened. But, as they say, that a baby snake is a snake and that a chameleon can change its colours but not its behaviour, ethnicity is a diehard thing. However, during the heated debates, they finally settled to the fact that hierarchy is a natural stand in any society and, at the end of the day, denying the identity of your ethnicity is like denying your parents. After all, nobody ever applied to God to be born in a particular community. Different communities, therefore, must be given equal respect.

During the argument, one member screamed, Mark it clearly in your head that you get elected not to serve your community but to serve communities that participated in electing you. In other words, when those communities elected you they make you pregnant and expect you must give birth to serving them.

He was hurrying going home powered by the excitement delivering the breaking news that he, against her negative prediction, was had been unanimously chosen Chair of the group. The group dispersed after each being given 500 shillings, little as it was but big for the unemployed. He wanted to give his girlfriend the whole money and beg, Let’s share it the way you want because I know women have bigger demands than men.

After all, it wasn’t a bad day for Matanga Karanja because something bad had happened to him. It was just because he had developed a feeling that something wrong related to him must either have taken place or was in the offing. He sweated out of walking fast to meet a deadline by arriving at Karanja Estate where he lived in a single room before sunset. Now he smelt his own sweat brewing from the armpits. He hadn’t taken a full bath for three days, other than washing his armpits just to frustrate the sweat smell. There was a problem of water supply in his area. Some city water curtails who knew how to make money quickly.

After all, it wasn’t a bad day for Matanga Karanja because something bad had happened to him. It was just because he had developed a feeling that something wrong related to him must either have taken place or was in the offing. He sweated out of walking fast to meet a deadline by arriving at Karanja Estate where he lived in a single room before sunset. Now he smelt his own sweat brewing from the armpits. He hadn’t taken a full bath for three days, other than washing his armpits just to frustrate the sweat smell. There was a problem of water supply in his area. Some city water curtails who knew how to make money quickly disconnected water line supplies to create a water shortage in the area and then capitalize on the shortage to make people buy water. Big City Council thieves had bought many water tank lorries and minted money in selling illegal water in the city of who eats who.

He glanced at the wristwatch of the cloudy evening. It was twenty minutes past six at the dawn of the twilight. The charge of his phone had expired since three o’clock and he was pretty worried that Cheruto must have been trying in vain to reach him many times. Consequently, she must have made up bad stories regarding why he had switched off the phone.

Finally, Matanga arrived home to find what would make a man of weak courage hang himself or throw himself for death from one of the Nairobi skyscrapers. His beloved Cheruto was not at home although she had promised to come home early. To add an insult to an injury he noticed there wasn’t a single item belonging to Cheruto. There wasn’t even her smell in the house. He was shocked. How could she have decided to disappear without telling him?

Things read that Cheruto must have returned to the house during the day with a transport picked up all her belongings and vanished. She didn’t leave a note saying anything about her whereabouts.

Where’s Cheruto? he asked the walls. He tried to calm himself down by believing Cheruto had just decided to shift to a new location from where she could launch a stronger bargain that would force him to give her more time