Basic facts on the topic: –
1) Activism in Kenya has atrophied to a career where donor-funding precedes addressing social issues.
2) Most activists are fake (especially prominent ones).
3) Not all activists are fake (mostly those you don’t know).
4) NGOs and donors don’t give a hoot about Kenyans – they operate on self-interest which is often a reflection of whatever country they hail from.
I often find it ironic that activists would fight against oppression & then fight for socialism which leads to oppression. Another ironic thing I find with activist is how they claim to fight the poor and then ridicule poor people who disagree with them for being poor. Another irony with activists is their war on religion, which is the most effective tool you could ever use when fighting oppression. Wilberforce, Martin Luther, Gandhi etc used it, but local activists adopt an elitist attitude while claiming to be fight for the common man. And people wonder why Kenya never changes… The activists are part of the system.
The very leaders who propelled democracy have shelves there struggle and now there are dinning with the wolves a good case study is of Boniface mwangi however, the very same leaders who would build such movement face intimidation and police brutality.
Perhaps we are being to general here. I know of both genuine and fake activists. Actually, the public knows them all too well. Some people even prefer the fake activists because of the strings attached and money that comes along with their deals.
My point here is that we should not generalise and entire group but instead name the fake ones in public. Generalising only harms the whole group (including the ones who are not fake) and also offers a cover for the fake ones since no one names them.
This scenario is similar to people who hate politics as a whole instead of directing their emotions to the specific person who put them in that situation. We need to deal with issues on a case by case basis. Only then will we even get close to solving them.
Where there is greed there will never be progress. Most activists are now after donor funding and do not really care about the ills in the society.