Protect gains made by Gen Zs in their demand for accountability

Anti-riot police officers rough up one of the youths during the anti-tax protests in Nairobi on July 2, 2024. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Kenya Police Service (KPS) have enthusiastically mounted a manhunt for alleged criminals who infiltrated the peaceful unarmed protests that rocked most of Kenya in the last three weeks.

The many uniformed and plain clothes security officers caught on camera and trending in social media are not being pursued as enthusiastically as the alleged criminals. These are double standards and the reasons why we cannot trust our security officers to protect citizens.

In fact, some leaders are accused of protecting goons and thieves allegedly paid by their colleagues to harass, intimidate and rob citizens including Gen Z protesters as police watch unmoved. We saw some officers promising protesters that they will kill more of them.

Criminals and goons infiltrated the protests later armed with stones, rungus and bows/arrows and were clearly distinguishable from the peaceful and unarmed Gen Z protesters, even the KPS did not stop, teargas or shoot at them like we saw in Eldoret and other places.

The majority of Gen Z protesters are distinguished by the uniform colours they wear, either black or white depending on the day's theme. Some leaders are claiming that the fact that the KPS allowed these armed goons a free hand means they knew who they were and what they planned to do. Nevertheless, Gen Zs have refused to abandon their Maandamo because most of their demands are not met.

Although the president conceded and directed the burial of finance bill 2024, this is yet to be done by Parliament. They also want accountability, an end to corruption, dissolution of Cabinet, recall of MPs who voted yes, and to bury their friends in peace and dignity.

They want an end to tribalism and nepotism, inclusion and meritocracy and meaningful public participation. They want the government to cut down on its largesse and opulence and live within its means and stop further borrowing, and to reduce the salaries of the executive and parliamentarians. It is encouraging to see pronouncements in Senate rejecting salary increments, which were callously gazetted in the midst of protests against high cost of living and high salaries of MPs and the Executive.

Leaders say they had expected SRC to consult before gazetting those increments as a show of solidarity and sensitivity and to avoid further outrage from Gen Z protesters. The senseless loss of lives at the hands of KPS is the most painful and regrettable part, 39 of our children were executed through KPS extrajudicial killings, and many unaccounted for abductions and disappearances, a national disgrace.

Kenya will never be the same thanks to the sacrifices by Gen Z protesters as we countenance public outrage over corruption, bad governance, wastage of public resources and bad manners from our politicians and church leaders. It is heart-warming to see some of these people attempting to explain their conduct and actions, something that was alien in Kenya. We must ensure the gains Gen Zs have made are not reversed and our leaders do not backpedal to their insensitive comfort zones.

We must keep the momentum until the changes we want are realised. One of the consistent complaints by Gen Zs is about trust deficit in our politics and government, they complain of insidious lies by the leadership.

Sadly, some utterances by leaders appear to give credence to their distrust and lack of confidence in government. For example, is the promise to reconstitute the IEBC within 10 days practical? What will Gen Z feel when after the expiry of 10 days there is no IEBC in place?

Tribalism, nepotism and unmerited hiring of people close to leaders further undermines credibility and legitimacy of the government as lists of public servants from one ethnic community continue to circulate in social media. Kenyans have been woken up by Gen Z protesters to vigilance and demands for accountability and inclusion, we now demand meaningful and genuine dialogue and public participation in governance and public affairs.

Although Gen Z protesters did not protest on Thursday this week, they have not called off their protests until their demands are met and we hope next time they are protesting, KPS will protect and not kill or harm them.