My sincere pity for aged leaders

For ages we have been told that age is nothing but a treasure. Many say it is actually wisdom and that we should always have a listening ear for the wise words of the elderly members of our society. Personally, I always treasured the sweet words of my old grandmother who passed away last year at the clearly ripe age of 97. This also explains why many of us treasure even the mere sighting of Mzee Nelson Mandela. World leaders and celebrities always struggle for a photo opportunity with the world’s undisputable living legend. Just before the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, it appeared that the world was interested in seeing the old statesman more than seeing an African country winning the tournament. However, lately, it appears that age as an asset is fast turning into a liability especially in the field of politics. There are many factors that have led to this, and wise leaders should either find a way of acting youthful or letting go before being pushed out for a harsh and unplanned retirement. The current wave of revolutions sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East is being fuelled by the large youthful populations of these countries at a pace political analysts could never have fathomed. As soon as the Tunisians had gotten rid of their aged Ben Ali, protests simultaneously broke out in Egypt, Yemen, Iran, Sudan and Bahrain. As the ones in Iran and Sudan were dying out, Libya literally caught fire. The common denominator in all these protests has been the determination of the youthful populations to get rid of their aged leaders. Even Col. Muamar Gadaffi who took power at the youthful age of 27 no longer carries a trace of youthfulness 41 years later, save for his designer Italian shades. Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak had clocked 30 years in power while Ben Ali had been at the helm for 23 years while the Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh has been around since 1977. The problem these leaders are facing is not just the usual cry for democratic reforms and jobs. The real fuel is the clear generational discordant between the youth and their aging leaders. A leader who is above 65 leading a country where the majority of the citizens are below the age of 25 should expect nothing but trouble. This is because at some point the role of advisors is not enough to bridge the gap caused by the generational challenges one has to deal with. We are living in an age where technological advancements are emerging at such a terrific speed. As if that is not enough, access to these facilities is spreading so fast with the prices going down every now and then. The dilemma for the older citizens is the challenge of trying to adapt to these technological changes and doing it fast enough. It is no longer enough to have basic computer skills of MS Word and Excel. The real deal now lies with the internet. It is no longer cool to have an email address; the question is whether you are on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Yes you may have a phone but is a smart phone? And if you have not heard of YouTube you are still in trouble. In short, leaders who are not youthful and tech-savvy are likely to face the wrath of the youth who consider them to be of an archaic generation and unable to understand their struggles and needs. Tech-savvy and youthful leaders are really lucky because they easily bode well with the largely youthful electorate that is now prevalent in most developing nations. After all, these are the same people likely to take to be involved in restless street protests. I think many leaders are envious of the undoubtedly youthful and tech-savvy Barack Obama. The US leader easily won the hearts of the younger Americans with his Blackberry always on his hip, and occasionally making time to play a game of basketball. As far as the East African region is concerned, no one comes close to President Paul Kagame. His presence on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter is not a secret. He even has a rather interactive personal website, www.paulkagame.com ssenyonga@gmail.com