Dear Jomo Kenyatta,

I believe that we are not acquainted yet. This is because we are from the future, modern day Kenya. You would not believe how much has changed. TVs are now in colour, and we have a new Constitution, promulgated in 2010. It vests all power in the people and is praised to have autochthonous aspirations and an admirably progressive Bill of Rights.

We write to you not to tell you of the convenience and whims of present-day Kenya, but to speak to you about your leadership. We understand that you are the first president of the Republic of Kenya. Congratulations on your win. But Mzee, we must warn you, a heavy task lies ahead of you. The nation is watching, the world is watching, you are at the birth of a brand-new nation. As people living in the aftermath of your actions, this letter serves as advice, advice to propel you and our nation to greater heights.

Now that you are in power and the white man is gone, how about letting their ways go too? Or at the very least, transforming them so they serve us rather than replicate what oppressed us. We are no longer under colonial rule, yet many of the structures remain intact. Today, your rule is often described as an extension of colonial governance. What good is chasing the colonisers if we still live by their logic of control? If we still conform to the same systems and norms, have we truly achieved independence? On 12 December 1963 we raised our flag high. Why then do we remain tethered to inherited structures without reimagining them? This is not a call to abandon all that is foreign, but to reshape it, to root governance in the realities, needs, and consent of the Kenyan people rather than in the convenience of inherited power. A new system of government, not one that merely replicates colonial rule, is due.

Further, Mzee, the opposition is not to be silenced. It is a system of checks and balances, the outsider looking in. We recognise that in a fragile, newly independent state, unity may appear more urgent than dissent. But enforced unity is brittle. In your endeavour to stay in power, you risk creating a shadow opposition, one that does not look out for the people but rather protects the government of the day. A loyal opposition is not your enemy; it is an insurance policy. The moment you begin jailing critics and banning parties, you begin to build a state that can only be sustained by fear. Fear is expensive, unstable, and eventually fatal to leadership.

Claude Ake reminds us that political authority is not self-justifying. Its legitimacy depends on whether it reflects the people or simply rules over them. When dissent is criminalised, that claim to legitimacy begins to fall apart. It does not create order; it exposes how much the state relies on coercion to sustain itself. Suppressing disagreement only pushes it out of sight, where it becomes harder to manage and more dangerous over time. Tolerating dissent is not a weakness. It is what keeps authority grounded. Without it, the state risks paying far more for its absence later.

Tribalism is the bane of Kenya’s existence, from it came the 2007–2008 post-election violence. It was triggered by disputed electoral results and exposed deep ethnic fault lines rooted in historical land grievances and elite political mobilisation, resulting in over 1,300 deaths, 600,000 displacements, and a constitutional reckoning that reshaped the country's governance architecture. While we recognise the innate human need to favour that which is familiar, leadership must resist weaponising it. Kenya is a diverse nation featuring diverse cultures that deserve representation and recognition. A government that distributes opportunity on merit rather than ethnicity does not weaken loyalty, rather, it broadens it. The white man thought to divide and conquer, but we must be different, for united we stand.

Kenya has everything it needs to be a great country. It has extraordinary people, remarkable geography, and at this moment, remarkable goodwill from the world. What it needs now is a leadership that is more interested in the country it is building than in the power it is holding. You studied, fought and killed for a notion of a nation you now get to build. You do not get to stand to the side; you must take a stance with pride. History is watching, Mzee. So are your children, and their children.

Yours sincerely,

Citizens of the future.