Civic awakening among young Kenyans
Kenya’s youth leaders are urging fellow-citizens to carry three items at planned June 25 demonstrations: flags, to signify national unity; flowers, to honor dozens of civilians killed during and since last June’s surge of popular protests; and placards that demand political accountability and adherence to democratic norms.
A 2024 government plan to impose taxes on a range of everyday items sparked what has become a year of dissent. As protests grew last June, security forces killed 60 civilians. Kenyan President William Ruto subsequently withdrew the finance bill and shuffled his Cabinet.
“It was Kenya’s most startling civic awakening in a generation,” according to Edward Buri, a Presbyterian minister. Marking the 2025 anniversary of “the Gen Z uprising ... calls this nation to account,” he wrote in The Standard newspaper.
Fed by frustration with official corruption and arrogance, the tax objections have morphed into broader pleas for honest, transparent, and responsive governance. These calls bridge ethnic divisions and tap into a deep yearning for individual and collective freedoms among youth activists in Kenya and beyond. Nigeria, Serbia, Mongolia, and Indonesia are other countries where youth are pushing a change agenda.
Many of Kenya’s 17 million Gen Zers are educated and entrepreneurial. Ninety-six percent use mobile technology regularly. And 63% say they are very involved in politics and public affairs. Using social media and artificial intelligence, tech-savvy young adults are educating others about legislation and decentralizing dissidence. Simultaneously, they are facing increased arbitrary detentions, disappearance, and even killings.
In late May, Rose Njeri was jailed for releasing software that enables citizens to reject the 2025 Finance Bill with the click of a button. She was freed after three days. Schoolteacher and blogger Albert Ojwang was not so fortunate. Arrested after alleging police corruption, he died in custody. The ensuing cover-up brought Kenyans into the streets again.
In contrast to perceived government obduracy, cultural icons and religious leaders are speaking out. Konshens, a popular Jamaican musician who often performs in Kenya, put up a post on his Instagram after police shot an unarmed street vendor: “Protect your people. Not silence them.” On Saturday, Christian and Muslim leaders gathered with protesters’ families in Nairobi to pray for peace – and for investigations into the 2024 killings. On Sunday, churches held interdenominational services.
“We prayed together. We brought the families together to wipe their tears,” said Canon Evans Omollo. Ahead of this week’s commemoration rallies, he said, “We want to tell the government and the security forces that Kenya is a constitutional democracy.”
For activist Hanifa Adan, writing in the Sunday Nation, such “affirmation from respected institutions ... can carry life-saving moral weight.”
