TM Smoke Signals: Silence, by Sylvie Baziga

A spoken word piece by Sylvie Baziga on the slow deaths that leave no bullet holes: the swallowed cry, the smothered dream, the word never spoken because speaking means disappearing.

Here, pencils forget. But stones remember.

This poem is a warning and a promise. The silence is not empty. It is boiling. It is preparing. And when it finally breaks, it will not ask for permission.

Written and performed by Sylvie Baziga.

Host: Thompson Luzendi (Zambia)

The rules of the house were written by someone who was never supposed to stay. Thompson sits down with Joe to unpack the moral political economy — what it is, how colonialism broke it, and what Gen Z across Africa needs to understand before 2027.

What We Cover

The moral political economy explained. Economics was never meant to be separated from ethics and politics. Neoliberalism broke that and turned it into a numbers game.

Colonialism as a restructuring of the house. It did not just steal land and labour. It rewrote the rules of African political, economic, and social life entirely.

Independence that changed nothing. For most African countries, colonial structures of governance remained intact and were turned against the same people they were built to oppress.

Three drivers shaping Gen Z today. Debt, technology, and multipolarity are reshaping how young Africans see themselves, the state, and the world.

2027 and beyond. A fragmenting Kenyan elite creates opportunity. But history shows conservative forces usually capture hard transitions. Gen Z must know exactly what country it wants to build.

Human rights defender, activist, and presidential candidate for the Republic of Kenya, Boniface Mwangi joins Smoke Signals for a direct, unfiltered conversation on what it will actually take for Kenya's Gen Z movement to convert street energy into political power by 2027.

This is not a motivational talk. It is a strategic briefing.

What We Cover

From occupation to ballot revolution. Boniface breaks down why "Ruto must go" is not enough. The movement needs political formations, a clear agenda, and serious civic education, not just for themselves but for the voters who still do not see young people as leaders.

Decentralisation without leaderlessness. A horizontal movement still needs a council of voices. Boniface argues that formal leadership is no longer optional if Gen Z wants to win.

Avoiding co-optation. You only get absorbed by the system if you have no agenda of your own. A movement with a clear vision is corruption-proof. Individual leaders may sell out. A movement with a mandate cannot.

The cost of challenging power. Surveillance, arrests, infiltration. Boniface gives practical advice on operational security: no routines, no technology in sensitive meetings, cell-based organising, and leaking misinformation to identify moles.

What governance must look like after 2027. Rule of law, social security, free education, free healthcare, land restitution, and full accountability for economic theft since independence.

The biggest mistake Gen Z could make. Joining or aligning with the current political class. Stay as far away as possible.

Closing message to those still in fear.

A spoken word piece by Frank Amani on the cycles we inherit and refuse to break.

Same Stupidity confronts the ways human beings repeat patterns across generations, dressing up the same vicious circle in new clothes, chasing happiness while performing it, and calling it progress. The poem moves through denial, social conformity, collective forgetting, inequality, and the quiet violence of indifference. It ends where it begins: with the uncomfortable truth that we are not exempt. Not from stupidity. Not from death. Not from each other.

Because even the undertaker ends up in the jaws of death.

Listen now.

Guest: Wilson (Willynkya), film & TV producer, content creator, and influencer based in Tanzania

Rodgers sits down with Willynkya to unpack "Put Your Target in a Decision Dilemma" (Andrew Boyd & Joshua Kahn Russell) through the lens of content creation and film and what it means for activists and organisers trying to move audiences toward action.

About Willynkya

What We Cover

The Empty Grave: Willynkya was the production manager on this Kijiweni Productions documentary about Tanzanian ancestral remains taken to Germany during the colonial era. It's screened at festivals across Tanzania and is currently streaming in Germany.

The Audience Dilemma in practice: How The Empty Grave was built to speak to four audiences at once: Tanzanian families, the German public, governments, and historians — each nudged toward their own decision.

Emotion in content: Hook with a problem, let your experience transfer to the viewer, make the first 5 seconds count, and design for both sound-on and sound-off viewing.

Industry challenges: Permits, financial literacy, the new Tanzania Film Board registration requirement, and the pressure to fake a lifestyle online.

For Organiser-Troublemakers

Follow Willynkya: @willynkya on Instagram & TikTok

In this powerful spoken-word piece, poet Opolot Emmanuel Solomon paints a vision of an Africa that has moved beyond division, dependency, conflict, and limitation. Through repetition, imagination, and conviction, he challenges listeners to picture a continent where dreams become reality, borders no longer divide people, and Africans take ownership of their shared future.

Opolot Emmanuel Solomon is a Ugandan spoken word artist whose work explores hope, identity, social transformation, and the power of collective action. In Africa Will Be Saved, he invites us to imagine a future shaped not by outside forces, but by the choices Africans make today.

Africa's future will not be written by fate alone. It will be shaped by the collective actions of Africans who dare to imagine a better continent, and work to make it real.

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.

Can Kenya's healthcare system be fixed—and who should lead that change?

In this episode of Troublemakers, Monica Kamandau speaks with pharmacist, healthcare consultant, and activist Morgan Derek Omondi about the future of healthcare in Kenya, the impact of corruption on public services, and the role Gen Z can play in shaping better systems.

Drawing from his experience in the Gen Z protests, healthcare policy, and community work, Morgan reflects on accountability, civic responsibility, and why data-driven decisions could transform healthcare delivery across the country.

Meet the Guest

Morgan Derek Omondi is a pharmacist, healthcare consultant, and regulatory affairs specialist. He is also involved with Spurgeons Child Care Kenya, supporting vulnerable children through education and community initiatives.

What We Unpack in This Episode

"We should all take responsibility for the change we need in our communities. If it means going to the streets, then we have to go to the streets."  Morgan Derek Omondi

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.

Resources & Show Links

What does “development” really mean—and who is forced to pay for it?

Ziada is a climate and gender justice advocate working at the frontlines of renewable energy and community resistance. Trained in medicine, her activism was shaped by real encounters with inequality, environmental breakdown, and lives lost to preventable conditions.

What is EACOP, really?

The real cost of “development”

Why women are hit hardest

Key Takeaway

“We don’t lack solutions—we lack implementation.”

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Our podcast is inspired by the Beautiful Trouble toolbox.

Green Conservers – connect via social media to support or collaborate

What happens when poetry becomes testimony?

In this deeply emotional and politically charged episode of Troublemakers, we journey through “Vous allez où?”, a haunting spoken-word piece that confronts war, displacement, colonial violence, exile, and the persistence of hope in places the world often chooses to ignore.

Through vivid imagery and painful truths, the poem paints a world where mothers bury children, rivers carry bodies instead of songs, and children draw rifles instead of suns. Yet even within devastation, there remains resistance the stubborn insistence on dignity, memory, and life itself.

This episode reflects on:

At its core, this episode asks:

This is not just poetry. It is testimony. It is mourning. It is resistance.

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

How do we move from gathering stories to creating impact? How can we be more strategic about story gathering? And who truly owns the narrative - organisations or the communities themselves?

In this episode of Troublemakers, we explore the role of storytelling in activism and development, featuring insights from practitioners working across Brazil and Nepal within ActionAid. This conversation unpacks how stories are gathered, shaped, and used. It explores the role of ActionAid in story gathering and reflects on why rethinking storytelling is essential for justice-driven work.

Guest Host

● Joan Njoroge – Moderator of this conversation, guiding a deep dive into how storytelling shapes advocacy, impact, and community voice within global movements.

Guest Speakers

● Erika Azevedo – Coordinator of Public Engagement at ActionAid Brazil, with a background in journalism and documentary storytelling.

● Anish Shrestha– Communications Manager at ActionAid Nepal, working closely with grassroots communities to amplify lived experiences.

Reflections

This episode highlights a key shift: storytelling must be decolonial, feminist, and human-centred. It’s not just about telling better stories — it’s about better planning and collaboration to avoid overload, more focus on agents of change, and amplifying people’s voices to different audiences.

License

Anyone can use this podcast for free, with attribution to Troublemakers (the podcast). It is held under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License and can be used for radio or any other media.

Resources & Show Links

● Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast

● ActionAid Global: https://www.actionaid.org

● Beautiful Trouble Toolbox: https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/