Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
20 August 2024 | 12:36 p.m. SAST
1-minute read

Young people in Kenya have taken to the streets to demand political reform, effective leadership and an end to corruption in protests dubbed the ‘Gen Z uprising’.

The finance bill that was passed to raise taxes to meet the country’s fiscal needs sparked widespread youth protests in June of this year.

President William Ruto subsequently withdrew the bill and formally appointed 19 new cabinet secretaries after dismissing 21 members and the attorney general.

Similar protests have been reported across the continent, and analysts suggest that challenges that fuel the uprising are present in South Africa

In Uganda, youth-led protests were suppressed by a harsh government crackdown, Joshua Araka said on Radio Islam’s Africa Report this morning.

Araka, a former photojournalist with NTV and former news editor at Scholar Media Africa, said, “This is a generation that is fairly informed, fairly educated. It is a generation that has access to technology, and they have ideas.”

The uprising points to the need for African leaders to address the challenges facing citizens across the continent, including high youth unemployment rates, declining economic stability and an increase in the cost of living.

Araka also discussed the growing realisation on the continent that Eurocentric systems of education are ill-suited for African learners.

“Most countries in Africa have been independent, in quotes, for several decades and are realising that the kind of education that they are imparting to the generations that are coming up is not really relevant. It’s not addressing the needs and demands of the unfolding world” Araka said.

The move to change the curricula has been made across the continent in countries like Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

In Kenya, Araka said that schools are currently implementing the competence-based curriculum, which has faced numerous challenges since its inception in 2017.

The challenges include a lack of resources and goodwill from stakeholders to implement curriculum change.

Araka discussed the high number of Africans who are experiencing food insecurity. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN puts the number at 250 million.

A harsh economic climate, coupled with natural disasters like drought, have contributed to the problem.

“Our agriculture is mainly dependent on rainfall. And most of us are subsistence farmers, and they don’t produce enough,” Araka said.

Listen to the Africa Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.