One year ago, a generation that had long been underestimated and mocked as “soft,” dismissed as “flighty,” and ignored at the ballot, rose up and stunned the nation. The 2024 protests shattered the myth of apathy among Kenya’s youth. They revealed a generation that is politically literate, emotionally intelligent, and deeply committed to the idea of a better Kenya; not in theory, but in practice.
In June 2024, thousands of young Kenyans poured into the streets in protest: against corruption, inequality, rising taxes, and a government that spoke of hustlers but legislated against them. It was defiant, angry, creative, and unapologetic. Protest chants echoed from Twitter(X) to TikTok to Tom Mboya Street. Street art, song, and slogans documented a mass awakening.
On June 25th 2025, Kenyans (Gen Zote) will march to commemorate the protests of last year, and to demand justice for those who were killed, injured, or disappeared in the brutal crackdowns that followed. Organisers say it’s not just about remembering. It’s about accountability.
At the height of last year’s protests, the police responded with force. Tear gas, batons, rubber bullets and live rounds. At least 60 people were confirmed dead by human rights groups, with many more injured. Some were arrested and never officially accounted for. No officer has been held responsible.The state denied the scale of the violence, but the youth documented everything through pictures, videos, voice notes and screenshots. Across Nairobi and other towns, the names of the fallen are remembered, and the protest lives on through art, music, and now, mobilisation.
This year’s commemoration is not a vigil. It’s a demand. In the months after the uprising, much of the media moved on, but young Kenyans didn’t. They formed collectives, launched civic education channels, began healing circles and resistance art shows. They realised protest is not an event, it’s a practice. From Mombasa to Kisumu, young organizers are planning tomorrow’s action with renewed clarity and coordination. Digital posters urge protestors to stay safe, wear masks, and document everything. Legal aid teams and first responders are already on standby.
For many protestors, justice isn’t just prosecution but transformation. Yes, they want investigations. They want names, resignations, and reparations, but they also want the systems that enabled the violence dismantled. They want a country where accountability isn’t a performance, but policy. Where police budgets don’t outpace youth support programs. Where the young are not only allowed to live, but to lead.Kenya’s Gen Z rose up not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they were tired of surviving a system that refused to evolve.
One year later, their fire hasn’t burned out. It’s simply shifted focus from protest to persistence, from resistance to reimagination. The world may have moved on, but they haven’t. And they won’t. Not until the country they call home becomes the country they deserve.This protest is a reminder that memory is resistance. That even in silence, grief roars. That Kenya’s youth, often scorned by older generations, are among the most politically conscious, digitally savvy, and emotionally attuned citizens the country has ever known.
It is also a warning: that the same conditions that sparked last year’s uprising still exist. Joblessness. Exclusion. Disillusionment. And now, the added ache of injustice unaddressed. Zeda stands with those marching for justice.
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