We lament broken systems and corrupt leadership, yet we shy away from the grueling, unglamorous work required to actually build the Kenya we deserve.

True change isn't a hashtag or a complaint; it is a sacred hustle that demands we sacrifice our comfort to fix systemic failures for the next generation. We are a nation of dreamers, excellent at visualizing a Wakanda-like utopia, but terrible at the brick-laying required to get there. It is time to stop outsourcing our salvation.

The Cost of Change

The gap between "what is" and "what should be" is not filled by conferences, reports, or op-eds. It is filled by work. And not just the 9-to-5 work that pays the bills, but the 4 AM work that builds a legacy. You know what is broken in your field. You have diagnosed the rot in our healthcare, the gaps in our education, the inefficiency in our infrastructure.

But are you willing to pay the price to fix it? The hustle is sacred because it requires you to:

• Wake up before the world does to study contract law or supply chain logistics—skills outside your degree but essential for the solution.
• Watch your peers get promoted while you spread yourself thin trying to build something new.
• Absorb the judgment of family who think you are wasting your time.

Redefining Success

We need a new metric for success in Africa. My friend Pius Muchiri of Nabo Capital put it best: "Success is having a lot of money and a lot of time." Not time to idle, but time to mentor, to build, to solve. True wealth is when your resources exceed your needs, freeing you to focus on the community.

This aligns with the ancient philosophy of Ubuntu—I am because we are. If you are the only rich person in a poor village, you are not wealthy; you are a target. Real leadership is stewardship. It is recognizing that the systems killing our people—the lack of medicine in hospitals, the potholes on the roads—will not be fixed by the people benefitting from them.

The Verdict

Twenty years from now, if you hustle today, the problem might only be 15% better. That is the hard truth. It might not be solved, just "less bad." But that 15% means thousands of lives saved, thousands of children educated. The alternative is to do nothing and hand our children a broken country.

So, walk away if you must. Protect your mental health. No one will judge you. But if you can't walk away—if the dysfunction keeps you up at night—then stop dreaming and start building. The dream is free, but the hustle is the rent we pay for the future.