Is Apathy Winning Out in the Kenyan Middle Class?

There is a common problem among Kenyans, one that translates over to the up and coming middle class. It is a general lackluster concern about the current state of affairs within Kenya. To that end, the recent outcry and protests against the Al-shabaab attack at Garissa University College were a welcome change of pace, but it was too little way too late. The fact of the matter is there has not been a substantial and sustained effort of protests or dialogue from the members of Kenyan society that are frequently subject to targeting.

This is the middle class of Kenya that continues to fall woefully short. Yes, there have been some attacks on Kenyans in a lower income bracket (the massacre at the quarry in Mandera comes to mind) but three of the most publicized and high impact attacks have taken place against the middle class of Kenya. These are the bus attack that left 28 dead (including 17 teachers), the Westgate Mall attack and most recently the massacre of college students in Garissa.

Kenya is rapidly developing, so quickly in fact that there seems to be a new office park or start-up sprouting up every second in Nairobi. The economy could really benefit from all of this new money, but the people that may benefit the most directly (Kenya’s new money, if you will) can’t seemed to be bothered to protect it.

They remain apathetic; when around them terror seems to be happening at whim. If these young people want the best for their nation, if the future they’ve been promised is truly meaningful, if they are growing weary of continual threat of terrorism then why not protest the cause of it all?

Voices were meant to be heard, not after the fact but well before; problems are only really solved in such ways. It’s all fine and good for activists to release painted donkeys in town, but it remains a symbolic gesture that doesn’t accomplish much.

The middle-class of Nairobi can’t become too comfortable behind their new money; their gated houses, their hope to get a bump in salary. This rings especially true as the nation is struggling around them. The point is this, don’t wait until it’s too late to speak out, doing so would make the Kenyan middle class a silent accomplice, a mafia wife.