The political awakening: Our WhatsApp group used to be about jokes; now we're tracking MPs

When I was selecting majors in my undergraduate, I completely struck off political science. There was something about my classmates who loved and swore in the name of political science that felt exhausting. It sounded to me like a course where I would endlessly talk about things which I had no real plan of doing anything about. In response to my unschooled opinion, the political science stalwarts reminded me that politics is in everything – there was nowhere I could go in life to escape from politics.

Politics is in families, in churches, of course in governments and, in corporates. They almost bought me over but I survived the peer pressure. I am more of a policy person, than a politics person, which makes it unsurprising that I did not even bother with student politics. But that is a story for another day.

It did not take me long to discover that my classmates were right. Indeed, politics in some shape or form, colours the world we live in. Whether we are talking ‘small scale’ family politics or the ‘big politics’ that affect taxes, justice and the cost of living; politics can be located inside all of these things. I also happen to work in a field where I interface with national politics every day, so basically, I have confirmed that there is nowhere to hide from politics.

That being said, I think there is more than average interest in national politics in Kenya. As a country, for the past year or so, we have become a little more charged. I do not want to drag last year’s Gen Z protests into this, but how do I explain that my two friends and I have not stopped talking about politics in our WhatsApp group since last year? Josie and Debra are my childhood friends.

According to Instagram, every girl is in a WhatsApp group (with a very funny name) with two other girls. Inside that group is where the real gist happens. Well, I am here to confirm that the theory is true.

For a long time, that group existed to share memes and funny videos, and post life updates – the few times there has been a momentous happening in the life of any of us. However, for the last two months or so, we have ceaselessly talked about politics. As I mentioned earlier, except I know actual things I can do to resolve something, I tend to keep away from endlessly talking about things. I always assumed that like me, my two friends were as uninterested in national politics.

For the lifetime of our friendship, whether in person or virtually, we never spoke about politics. But lately, politics is almost all we talk about in that group. That leads me to one or both of these conclusions: Either my friends and I are becoming more aware of how politics affects us, or the political upheavals in this country have become inescapable.

“In this county, there has been an ongoing doctors’ and nurses’ strike for the past two months. But there is talk about giving pregnant women money to [encourage young people to have families]”. One of us posted on Sunday in the group chat. And after that post, like it happens often these days, we had a serious political conversation. We talked about a hospital that just been elevated to level six but does not even have CT scan machines. Debra said it is a terror to be unwell in this country if you do not have money – because of the real possibility of being misdiagnosed or mishandled as either hospitals are ill-equipped or healthcare workers are on strike. Or both.

Today, all the three of us know the names of our home constituencies, the names of our Members of Parliament and are collectively keeping tabs of what they are doing. This is unlike two or so years ago when I would be hard-pressed to name any political leader in my home town. One of us even has a serious opinion about how our home governor is delivering on his manifesto! She is giving him very close marking, and we have joined her in that endeavour.

My classmates were right; politics is in everything, including friendships! Now we can’t just chat about movies and share links of how to bypass Netflix controls in peace! I wonder if that political science major would have better prepped me for these politically charged times I find myself in. Just maybe, it’s not too late to go back to class.

The writer is the Research & Impact Editor, NMG,[email protected]