Kenya's Unfinished Uprising: How Gen Z Still Haunts Ruto Government | Firstpost Africa | N18G

 

 

We begin today in Kenya. What was meant to be a solemn anniversary has turned violent once again.

On June 25th, thousands of Kenyans marked the second anniversary of deadly Gen Z protests. Despite the government's

promise that it would be a normal day for the people, the day of remembrance quickly shattered into fresh unrest.

Police clashed with young demonstrators.

Officers fired tear gas and set up armed roadblocks to disperse the crowds. The streets turned into a battleground. Even

gunshots were reportedly heard. Take a look.

Well, the government has confirmed that more than 350 people have been arrested across the country. Now, the chaos

erupted as ordinary Kenyans, activists, and opposition leaders tried to march to the parliament building. Riot police

mounted miles of razor and deployed water cannons outside the building's gates.

So, we're here today to remember the Gen Z martiers who were murdered during the Gen Z protests of 2024, 2025 and also

2026 and we are saying that uh the government should not would wink the public with compensation. We want justice.

What you are seeing on the screen is a city at standstill. Nairobi's central business district was turned into a

virtual no-go zone. Shops, restaurants, and schools were completely shut down.

And as the situation escalated, Interior Minister Kip Chumba Mockerman defended the heavy-handed response. He labelled

those arrested as criminals and argued that the lockdown was entirely necessary to protect businesses and prevent

widespread looting. But human rights groups and witnesses on the ground tell a very different story. They say

peaceful mourners and ordinary citizens were swept up in the mass arrests as police used aggressive tactics to clear

the streets. To understand why the government is so terrified of these gatherings, we have to look back at the historic uprising that shook Kenya 2

years ago. It began when thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets. They were furious over severe tax hikes and a

skyrocketing cost of living crisis. The tension peaked on June 25th, 2024 when an angry crowd stormed the Parliament

building. Security forces responded with live ammunition and at least 60 people were killed during the protests. Fast

forward to today. The families of those victims are demanding justice. They say the government's promised $15 million compensation fund lacks transparency.

Mothers of slain protesters say no amount of money can replace accountability and they want the police officers who pulled the triggers to face trial.

To date, the government of Kenya has not issued a formal public apology. Right.

The government has failed to acknowledge that through impunity they allowed police officers to open fire to kill

innocent Kenyans. There's no reparations without justice.

You cannot equate any life. Life is priceless. Life is priceless. So, what

does this ongoing unrest mean for President William R? Well, simply put, it leaves his administration on sitting

a political powder keg. Next year, Kenya heads to the polls for a highly anticipated general election. President

RTO's heavy reliance on the police force to crush these memorial marches shows just how vulnerable his government feels. By treating young voters and

grieving families as a national security threat, the administration risks permanently alienating the very demographic that will decide the next

election. Kenya's youth. The Gen Z movement may not be occupying the streets daily, but the anger that fueled

the historic uprising has clearly not gone away.

So, how President Randles this simmering tension over the coming months will likely decide whether he survives at the

ballot box next year. And joining us to discuss this further is Narima Wacko, executive director at SASA Place and a

political analyst joining us live from Nairobi, Kenya. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Thank you.

Let's first look at the action that we saw yesterday with these mass arrests.

Do you think this could be a catalyst for further action in the coming days and weeks from people?

I believe that the question is what are people being claimed to be arrested for?

When we look at some of the charges they are saying obstruction of roads while we can clearly see that the roads were blocked off uh by security and even in

your images you can see how empty these streets are. It was very difficult for protesters to get to the city center.

The pressure will continue. Uh the president does have to push the relevant institutions to have the rogue officers,

you know, charged and arrested because even the way the compensation checks were being given a few hours to June

25th. So, it looks very political, no goodwill. And of course, next year is an

election year. So, campaigns have begun and so how he reacts to this is going to be extremely important and you could see

the confusion within security and the announcements that they were making from you know no protest has or no

demonstration was notified or they didn't give permission for people to be able to demonstrate to closing off the

media and then agreeing to have the media present. So, you can still see a disjointed action from the administration in regards to how to deal with this.

Looking now at the initial issues that caused these protests two years ago from a Gen Z movement, in your opinion, do

you think that the questions that were raised then have now been answered in relation to tax hikes and cost of living or is there likely to be further

demonstrations around this broader issue ahead of that election?

There are still going to be broader issues in regards to corruption because as much as it's high cost of living taxes have even increased when we talk

about even our health insurance or VAT or certain products in terms of tax increments. So, the pocket people are

really going to feel the pain and the pinch. So, they haven't answered a lot of the questions that people went to the streets initially in 2024 and we

continue to see scandals on the front page of our newspapers. The public feels unheard. Uh even the members of

parliament were afraid to go into parliament and actually pass the finance bill of this year where we had 185

members just not show up and 40 of those members are the ones who voted no. And so, it's quite an interesting dynamic

where representatives are even afraid of pushing certain laws and going against the public. And so, a lot of the issues

they do understand haven't been answered. And there's still this anger and underlying resentment in terms of

the government not listening to the public.

And looking at that, where does this place William R? Of course, we've seen action now over several issues in recent

weeks. I I think back to the co sorry Ebola center um US Ebola center that also caused outrage amongst the people. Does that weaken RT's position?

Is there any likelihood that these protests will have an impact on that election uh coming up?

So according to pollings right now the president is very low in terms of likability considering how close we are

to an election. So, you can see those numbers get even lower. And even when we talk about the Ebola center, remember

it's a live case and we did have the cabinet secretary being invited to court and almost, you know, served with a

contempt of court order because didn't show up uh previously but had to. So, you can see there's a gridlock and a

bottleneck there in terms of the court saying that people or the citizens were not well informed or involved in this

process. So as far as it goes for his campaign, it's going to be very difficult for him to turn those numbers.

It's already difficult for an incumbent, especially when you have to encourage people to put you in for a second term.

So now imagine having to do that in a population that is majority young that already feels dissatisfied, limited

opportunities and then you have a lot of individuals coming up to the four. We have about seven people who have said

that they are willing to v for president and sort of banding together and agreeing to that if we all seven have to

go against him together we will uh just to make sure that he does get out. So, he's going to try his best to make sure

that he breaks this so-called alternative opposition and create confusion because you do have to get

elected with a 50 + one uh majority in our elections. And remember the last election in 2022, we had a large number

of people who could vote and they didn't. And that's about 8 million. And he won by that same number, actually

close to 7.8 million. So, you're talking about a president who is leading a minority group. When you combine the

number that didn't vote and the number that voted for uh former prime minister Raa Odinga and Matakarua under Azimo,

that's 14.5 million people uh who didn't believe in his leadership. So it's going to be a tough coin to overturn.

And very quickly before we move on, um where does this leave the possibility of instability? Um, we've

seen these protests, unhappiness from the population over compensation and international deals. Do you think that

further protests will come ahead of the election and what could that mean more broadly for the country if there is a period of instability?

Yes, it's quite sensitive. I can already see an issue on the horizon. uh you just shared about uh member Somalia uh being

deported with uh Kenyan documents that has been on our news uh very recently

and also, uh articles uh being published about Kenyan ident identity cards being

sold to Somalians or even foreign uh immigrants just to vote uh to make sure that they are present within the country

that is going to be quite a contentious issue. So, there will be uh protests that will continue multiple ones uh because

you can see the kind of challenges that this administration is having also in terms of our security in terms of

identity uh also in terms of health in terms of the economy and as it gets closer to December the it's a big

holiday for us uh Christmas we travel to the village so we can normally predict how people are doing financially uh if

they are able to travel for the holidays uh for Christmas or if they don't have enough resources they stay put uh since many of them do live in the cities. So

they will be telltale signs and they will definitely be more protests.

Narima Wacko, thank you ever so much for your time today. Thank you.

What's the weirdest thing you've packed for a tournament? Hair extensions.

[laughter]

Wo, I need to know more.

I don't want tennis to go back to where it was 20 years ago.

SA on court as a player or SA on the sideline as a court.

Easier. I don't know. I think it's just a different challenge. Do you miss it?

What I did miss was the feeling of winning. The only thing that I probably look back and say is, "Oh, I don't have an Olympic medal."

I am thrilled to see Serena back on the court. If she's able to do it, then I think there should be no conversation anymore about who's the greatest athlete in the world.

How difficult is it to be a mom in this era of social media?

Kids don't do what you say, they do what you do. I can't really like go like this. I was an impatient person.

I was just [laughter] trying in life. But on the court, I was very patient. a talent that you have which is completely un unrelated to sport.

I can sing like I'm not bura.

I could become a billionaire but I will never be able to replace that that feeling.

Is it tough to say goodbye and close a chapter?

I think you should know when to call time. I wanted people to be like why are you stopping and not be like hey b when are you stopping? But you should never say never.

That's the cue. This is the teaser.

 

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