Picture a 62 year old Kenyan citizen. If she had aged with dignity, she would have secured the blessings of education, health, respect and opportunity. Her children would be educated, healthy and hopeful. Her community would be cohesive, her voice heard, her rights protected. She would share in the country’s wealth, not watch from the margins.
By Tracey Kadada
Instead, many 62 year old Kenyans, the generation born at independence, face eroded savings, unreliable pensions and social disregard. Their children and grandchildren struggle with inequality, under education, expensive health, insecure jobs. Civic voice is threatened, public services eroded, hope fragile.
The reports from Oxfam Kenya, TISA, and human rights bodies are mirrors. We must not shatter them. Let them reflect what is true. Only by seeing, truly seeing, can healing begin.
As Kenya approaches the 2027 general election, the real choice should not be between political players, but between justice and denial, between equality and graft, between dignity and despair.
The path forward demands truth, solidarity and empathy, and the courage to rebuild what has been broken. True leadership requires confronting the reflection in the mirror, not avoiding it. It demands acknowledgment of systemic failures, transparency, and the courage to act decisively for justice, equality, and social wellbeing. Without such leadership, civic space shrinks further, inequality deepens, and the nation drifts toward a fragile old age marked by unhealed wounds and deferred dreams.
A 62 year old does not have to be frail. With care, respect and renewed commitment to humanity, she can still stand tall. She can still lead the way, not by power, but by wisdom, justice, compassion and dignity.
Kenya deserves nothing less.

(Today marks 62 years since Kenya gained independence on 12 December 1963 — a day of pride, reflection, and celebration of the nation’s journey, resilience, and unity.

Wishing all Kenyans a joyous Jamhuri Day! May the spirit of peace and progress, continue to shine brightly.)