Economic woes turned youths into political animals in 2024

Youth during Gen-Z protests in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

In 2024, young people in Kenya became a frontier of resistance and agitation for change. After a decade, where the youth were associated with the party scene and social media escapades, their indifference to politics came to a halt with a bang! Perhaps the awakening was triggered by the hustler campaign narrative, which promised to centre the average struggler in the economy.

Two years after the 2022 elections, it became clear that the struggler, hustling to make a shilling from the daily grind, was not only struggling due to flagging demand but was also burdened by a regulatory web that ensnared small and micro enterprises. The Finance Act 2024 was the straw that broke the camel's back. Something snapped.