Sculptures dragged, police cars scaled: How Gen Z infused protests with humor

Protestors hike a police track on Thika road on June 25, 2025 [David Gichuru, Standard]

Kenyans turned Wednesday’s June 25 protests into a powerful mix of humour and defiance, with Gen Z leading dramatic and sometimes absurd scenes both online and on the streets to mock state authority.
In Nairobi, youth dragged the well-known lion, buffalo and elephant sculptures from Uhuru Park and placed them on Kenyatta Avenue in a triangular standoff. The unusual display went viral and was seen as a symbol of wild resistance staring directly at power.
Along the Thika Superhighway near Allsops, demonstrators outnumbered police and paramilitary officers. In one scene, protestors were seen hanging on the back of an administration police lorry that had been deployed to contain them but appeared to be taken over and redirected by the protestors themselves.