Kenyan youth send a clear message to embattled Ruto

KENYA is going through turbulent times. In less than a month, the country has seen two rounds of youth-led anti-government protests on June 25 and July 7.

- DR SIZO NKALA

The first wave of protests, concentrated mainly in the capital, Nairobi, was a commemoration of the deadly June 2024 protests in which young people thronged the streets to express their disapproval of a government-proposed bill to increase taxes. About 60 protesters lost their lives, and scores of others were injured, largely due to a heavy-handed police response.

The protests were effective as the bill was withdrawn, and President William Ruto dismissed his cabinet en masse. The issues at the centre of this year’s June protests included police brutality, human rights abuses and government corruption, with some of the protesters calling for the president's resignation.

Another brutal police response saw 16 protesters lose their lives and around 400 others get injured. The July 7 protests coincided with the 35th anniversary of Saba Saba Day, during which Kenyans commemorate the July 7 1990, protests which forced the Daniel Arap Moi regime to reinstate multiparty politics. The clear message in the choice of the date of the protest is that the Kenyan young people are not impressed by the government’s performance — they want change.