On July 15, I was in Nakuru at the invitation of civil society counterparts and old friends “to brainstorm on the current state of affairs”. As a veteran activist, the significance and potential impact of the impending discussions with my contemporaries was not lost on me, coming as they did within the context of Kenya’s socio-political space in the past couple of months.

For the better part of 2024 and first half of 2025, intermittent and internecine protests became the main emblem of Kenya’s socio-political activity across the country. My expectations were confirmed immediately we settled in a meeting room at one of the popular hotels in Kenya’s fourth largest city after Nairobi, Mombasa, and the lakeside Kisumu in that order.

Initially, there were eight when we started, but numbers kept increasing. By the time we finished at about noon, we were 15. Nakuru is one Kenya’s most volatile geopolitical regions, further made explosive by its geographical location at the belly of the country’s volcanic but scenic Rift Valley, a political melting pot where different cultures and ideas meet, blending together to form a vibrant yet unified entity.

From the outset, it was clear the group was on a soul-searching mission. One speaker after another revisited events of the past year, some of them reminiscing nostalgically about the national leadership, even as they expressed their worries about the recent turn of events, some of them somewhat feeling betrayed.

On their own behalf as individuals and on behalf of the groups they associate with – civil society groups, businesses and the ever evolving political parties and formations in the country, they sought each other’s and my opinion about what the current socio-political developments portend for the foreseeable and distant future.

The recent proposal by veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga for what he framed as intergenerational conclave also came into the discussions. They expressed genuine fear that the conclave may turn out not to be different from previous attempts to resolve long standing national issues, citing the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report as a case in point.

For such a national dialogue to be genuine and seen to be so, they added, there ought to be demonstrable good faith on the part of the government, pointing out that public comments by senior government officials and allied politicians were already hurting hitherto cordial inter-communal relationships that they have painstaking built and nurtured over the years.

For the dialogue to deliver on its outcomes, leaders must endeavour to demonstrate political goodwill in order to meet mid-way with the collective aspirations of the youth that have recently been reimagining Kenya whose aspirations its founding fathers had in mind, and whose aspirations are aptly captured in the 2010 Constitution.

They called for refrain from reckless statements that could otherwise antagonize communities against each other and poison the cordiality necessary for the realization of the noble objectives for which the country is calling for intergenerational dialogue.

But they also sought and found refuge in the fact on the many occasions the country has gone through similar socio-political maelstroms, Kenyans have always demonstrated unparalleled resilience and bounced back before crossing the Rubicon, as they also added their voice in support for dialogue, reckoning with the fact that only an all-inclusive framework can provide a platform for sober and candid look into the challenges facing the country.

The writer is the Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre, and Chairperson of the Horn of Africa Civil Society Centre; [email protected]