Positive Youth Development expert Neema Mutemi says a generational shift is redefining political engagement across East Africa, with young people increasingly rejecting the traditional ideologies that have long shaped governance and opposition movements.
Speaking on Radio Generation, Mutemi said the region is at a pivotal moment of transition that signals both a change of guard and a transformation in how young people view power, leadership, and civic participation.
“Actually, it’s not just in Kenya,” Mutemi said.
“History has always been driven by young people. If you look at the people who fought for independence, a lot of the people we celebrate, like Tom Mboya, how old was he when he was pushing for Pan-Africanism and education exchange programs? These guys were in their twenties and thirties.”
Mutemi noted that this historical pattern of youthful leadership is resurfacing, though under very different circumstances.
“What’s different now is that it’s a transition,” she explained. “It’s almost like a change of guard. When you look at leaders like Raila Odinga, Tundu Lissu, and Kizza Besigye,they are peers of the same age. But what’s happening now is that young people are distancing themselves from the ideologies that have defined opposition for a very long time.”
According to Mutemi, this distancing reflects growing frustration with political systems that fail to deliver meaningful change.
“There’s a little bit of a shake-up,” she said. “People are either accepting or refusing to accept that change of guard. The whole movement is saying, We actually don’t believe in the whole thing, not the IEBC, not the options you’re giving us, because we don’t see a difference.’”
She added that youth across the region, from Kenya to Tanzania and Uganda, are increasingly challenging outdated governance tactics.
“Can old tactics that have been used by government administrations work today?” Mutemi asked. “Can you actually torture people, disappear them and will it amount to anything? The capture and imprisonment of Tundu Lissu, for instance, has only awakened a whole movement of young people who were previously disengaged from politics.”
Mutemi said this generational awakening could have profound implications for regional stability and democracy. As Tanzania heads toward a critical political moment balancing between elections and street demonstrations, she argued that the youth’s collective energy will be the determining factor.
“Across East Africa, young people are no longer content being spectators,” she said. “They are demanding new forms of leadership, accountability, and justice and that is what will shape the region’s next chapter.”
