The enthusiastic and youthful Rwandan comrade Dr. Richard Sezibera, secretary general of the EAC is a frustrated man. His face -- that of a fresh, young person in a key leadership position -- is what we should strive to make the norm in the East African region. Yet the old guard of technocrats and bureacrats from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and even in Rwanda will not let him be. They are hellbent on hindering his efforts and seemingly, will never show him the respect his office deserves. It is time to say enough to this effrontery both to the person of the secretary general and to the EAC member state of Rwanda.
I deplore it as utterly vile and disrespectful to treat the youth in this manner, leave alone yoking Dr. Sezibera with disdain on the sole basis and perception that he is an upstart from Rwanda. What further credentials does one need? Deep furrows on one's forehead, thick strands of grey hair or is it his lack of a deep vernacular accent that would make him sufficiently boring and unintelligible?
It has become standard practice for the old civil servants in senior positions to conspiratorially murmur the old tired song of inexperience whenever they have to work under a younger administrative superior. Yet most of them didn't even know how to hold writing implements when the immediate post-colonial administrators handed them the reins of service that they adamantly refuse to pass on to the next generation.
Hard as they may try Dr. Sezibera should not let them weaken his resolve, neither should he expect to be given any meaningful aid by these naysayers; who sit at his table all the while secretly sabotaging his efforts and gleefully plot his downfall and ignominous exit.
As part of the young generation in Kenya I voice my unequivocal support to the beleaguered secretary general against his detractors who have no appetite, vision or stake in a prosperous and united East Africa which can only be trully realized and forged into a single entity by unbiased and unprejudiced younger generations.
As the youth we must stay vigilant and become more vocal in supporting this emerging trend of the youth moving into leadership positions, one that seems to only provide galling apprehension to the old bureaucratic cynics. The disgraced old guard is a greedy and embittered, time barred lot -- one that understandably perceives the dream of a united East Africa with suspicion and apathy. We have little use and we must root out such saboteurs, who out of selfish reasons prefer the status quo which provides them with perks that millions of other East Africans can only dream of .
M. Wycliff,
Nairobi.
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