Satire and Political Participation Amongst the Elite Youth in Nairobi: Analysis of the Xyz Show

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of satire on Kenyan political thought and discourse regarding good governance among the elite youth in Nairobi. It’s focus is on how satire affects the audience’s knowledge, political awareness and social changes. Three objectives guide this study: To establish the impact of the show on political awareness among the elite youth in Nairobi County; to assess the effect of the show on voting behaviour based on the 2017 Kenya general election, among the elite youth in Nairobi County; to analyse the impact of the show on the elite youth in Nairobi County in relation to political participation. The study adopted a descriptive research design through which qualitative data was collected from young people aged 18-35 years sampled purposively from two universities in Nairobi County, Daystar University (private) and University of Nairobi (public), and involve two 10-member Focus Group Discussions. Data was collected through FGDs and thematic content analysis applied on the data which was presented in a narrative format. This study found that prior to exposure to the xyz show, many youths had inadequate information about the country’s political space an implication that the program had strengthened their awareness and political participation as a result. It was also found that the xyz show had strong impacts on political voting behaviour among the elite youth through civic education. The show encouraged the elite youth to engage structurally in political conversations that would help them monitor the performance of their leaders. It was concluded that through engagement in political conversations, the youth have an opportunity to analyse the issues being addressed by political contenders to make informed voting decisions that affect the future for example by subsequently developing scorecard tools to keep leaders accountable. The elite youth also have to be conversant to the fact that current choices affect future consequences and while it’s possible to forget a choice made (or not made) in the past, no one can run away from the consequences of their past behaviour. The study proposed that the xyz program takes a customized angle based on the different types of audiences regionally in Kenya given the advent of devolution. Further study was suggested to focus on the role of the media in shaping political opinions in among rural communities and how political satire can influence or alter political orientations among die-hard supporters.