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. When you lose your fear, they lose their power. Organise in spite of the threats. You are not only fighting for a better life. You are fighting for your right to exist.

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. Translation here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqUOFQJR3ELEn3evRRaGLGer-y1xBCRd3GuchLdB9po/edit?usp=sharing

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 Five years in film and TV before transitioning fully into content creation. Known for travel and lifestyle content on Instagram and TikTok, and branded work at the intersection of storytelling and commerce.

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 When designing an action, ask: what are the two decisions my target can make, and how do both move my cause forward? Drop how you've used this in the comments.

Follow Willynkya: @willynkya on Instagram & TikTok The Empty Grave: Follow Kijiweni Productions for screening updates Credits: Production support: Thabit Kitamu

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.

• Imagining a Different Africa A continent defined by opportunity, innovation, and shared prosperity.
• Beyond Borders The dream of a more connected Africa where people, ideas, and opportunities move freely.
• Changing the Story Replacing narratives of crisis and dependency with stories of achievement and self-determination.

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.

• Follow Troublemakers wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/troublemakers.podcast

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? A massive oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania—sold as progress, contested on the ground.

The real cost of “development” Displacement. Lost livelihoods. Closed schools. Communities cut off from land and identity.

Why women are hit hardest Economic exclusion, social disruption, and power imbalances intensified inside homes and communities.

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? What happens when a voice carries the grief, rage, memory, and survival of an entire people?

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:

• War as a lived daily reality, not a distant headline
• Forced displacement and the psychology of exile
• The silencing of oppressed voices
• Colonial legacies and systems of domination

At its core, this episode asks: Where do people go when home itself becomes unlivable? And what does it mean to continue dreaming in a world built to erase you?

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/

How do we defend rights in a world full of misinformation?

In this episode, guest host Jesué Mutanava speaks with Steward Muhindo, a human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo and member of Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA).

They explore how social media shapes activism, the dangers of disinformation, and how young people can push for change through peaceful action. Steward also shares simple ways to verify information and why truth is essential in the fight for human rights.

Key Takeaways

• Human rights are universal.
• Peaceful action drives change.
• Misinformation can cause real harm.
• Truth is the foundation of activism.

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