On June 25, 2024, Kenya entered a new chapter of political awakening as hundreds of thousands of young people took to the streets in protest against the contentious Finance Bill 2024–2025. The mass mobilization, spanning 34 out of Kenya’s 47 counties, marked the largest nationwide protest in the country’s history. From Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu to Marsabit, Kenya’s youth — primarily Generation Z and a large cohort of millennials — expressed a collective refusal to accept policies they view as unjust and exploitative.
Though the bill passed in Parliament, President William Ruto ultimately withdrew his assent, a rare retreat in response to public pressure. Since then, Gen Z activists have remained vigilant, extending their protests to issues like femicide, extrajudicial killings, media censorship, and the delayed employment of medical interns.
Historical Parallels: Mau Mau and Gen Z Movements
Observers and activists alike have drawn comparisons between this youth-led uprising and the Mau Mau liberation struggle of the 1950s — a movement that played a critical role in Kenya’s path to independence. In particular, protesters have symbolically gathered at Dedan Kimathi’s statue in Nairobi, invoking the spirit of the renowned Mau Mau field marshal as a figure of resistance and inspiration.
While analogies between Gen Z and Mau Mau are tempting, the two movements differ profoundly in context, composition, and goals. Nonetheless, two core similarities stand out: the youthfulness of participants and the decentralized structure of mobilization.
Youth at the Helm: A Common Thread
The Mau Mau movement emerged in the late 1940s among disenfranchised Kikuyu squatters resisting post-WWII land and labor policies. By 1952, when the colonial government declared a state of emergency, Mau Mau’s backbone consisted of fighters in their teens and twenties. Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi was 32, General China was 30, and others were even younger. Likewise, today’s protests are predominantly led by a similarly young demographic, asserting their voices in shaping Kenya’s future.
Decentralized Mobilization: From Forests to Feeds
Another parallel lies in organizational structure. Mau Mau operated without a singular centralized command, relying instead on local autonomy among guerrilla units. The Gen Z movement mirrors this model through its leaderless organization, leveraging social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and WhatsApp to coordinate actions at county and grassroots levels. This strategy enables adaptability and broad participation, essential for the protests’ national scale and resonance.
The Turning Point: June 25 and the Fire of Spontaneity
The spontaneity and intensity of June 25 revealed both the power and the volatility of this model. Until mid-afternoon, protests were peaceful, marked by song, placards, and unified chants. But when news broke that Parliament had passed the bill, widespread anger turned into action. Protesters breached security barriers in Nairobi and stormed the Parliament buildings, setting parts ablaze. Similar scenes played out across counties like Kiambu, Nakuru, and Nyeri. These actions were not centrally orchestrated but arose from localized outrage and independent decisions to retaliate against perceived betrayal.
Unity in Diversity: How Gen Z Stands Apart
Unlike Mau Mau, which was rooted primarily in the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru communities, Gen Z represents a truly national movement. It crosses ethnic, regional, and gender lines. Young women, in particular, have played pivotal leadership roles, organizing both online campaigns and street mobilizations — a stark contrast to the limited and often marginalized role women played in Mau Mau.
Moreover, Gen Z includes middle-class professionals, university students, civil society organizations, and religious groups. Its inclusivity reflects a broader coalition, one that transcends the narrow confines of tribal identity or socioeconomic status.
Political Education: The Missing Piece
Where Mau Mau had mass oathing rituals that served both as initiation and education, Gen Z largely lacks a structured system of political learning. Mau Mau’s oaths were not just spiritual pledges; they were educational sessions designed to teach recruits about colonial oppression, land dispossession, and the mission of liberation. These ceremonies created a shared ideological framework among participants, even when they operated autonomously.
Gen Z’s mobilization is swift, impactful, and visible, but it often lacks the sustained momentum needed to effect structural change. After each protest cycle, energy dissipates until another crisis rekindles activism. This pattern risks turning the movement into a series of momentary reactions rather than a long-term force for transformation.
From Protest to Strategy: Charting a Path Forward
To endure, the Gen Z movement must use the quiet periods between protests to build infrastructure. WhatsApp groups can evolve into study circles. X Spaces can host weekly discussions on Kenya’s political history, economic systems, and governance structures. Veterans from past struggles, such as the Mwakenya movement, could mentor younger activists through virtual lectures and storytelling sessions.
This focus on political education would protect the movement from manipulation by political elites and foster a nuanced understanding of Kenya’s complex history of tribalism, exclusion, and regional inequities. For instance, during the Nane Nane protests of August 8, 2024 — widely expected to be the largest yet — turnout was limited largely to Nairobi. The rest of the country remained silent, possibly due to the symbolic inclusion of local leaders like former Governor Hassan Joho in President Ruto’s cabinet. This incident highlighted how regional perceptions of inclusion or exclusion can shape protest engagement.
Building a Truly National Movement
Kenya’s historical wounds — from the marginalization of Somali youth in the northeast to the Nubians of Kibera struggling for documentation — must be acknowledged and incorporated into the Gen Z agenda. A politically educated movement can foster solidarity across these diverse experiences, building a coalition rooted in justice, equality, and national identity beyond tribal lines.
By creating inclusive learning spaces, Gen Z can forge common ground between the Luo youth of Kisumu, who rally under “Luo Lives Matter,” and the youths of Lamu and Mombasa, who have long felt politically sidelined. It can help ensure that slogans like “tribeless generation” are not just aspirational but actionable frameworks for unity.
Conclusion: Lessons from the Past, Visions for the Future
Veterans of the Mau Mau struggle often emphasized that their unity was not bound by geography or hierarchy, but by the oath — a shared commitment to a cause greater than themselves. As Kahinga Wachanga noted in The Swords of Kirinyaga, “We had no [single] leader or commandant except the oath. The oath was our leader.”
Gen Z today faces different challenges in a different era, but the lesson remains timeless: a movement rooted in shared values and informed understanding is one that can endure. Political education is not a luxury — it is a necessity for transformation.
Street protests may ignite the fire, but only organized, educated, and inclusive movements can keep it burning. If Kenya’s Gen Z wants to be remembered not only as a generation of resistance but one of reconstruction, then investing in political education must be its next revolutionary act.
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