Protesters picket along Kimathi Street in Nairobi on June 25th 2025 during the commemoration of the 2024 Gen-Z protests.
The Gen Z revolt of June last year promised a revolution. Not a violent insurrection or anything of that sort depicted in the false narratives spun by the Ruto government propaganda machinery, but a revolution in our minds.
The ‘leaderless, partyless, tribeless’ mantra promised new beginnings, radical shifts in the way we play our politics. We were going to move away from ossified ethnic mobilisation and sheeplike obeisance to moneyed party and tribal kingpins.
Looking at the current line-up of those jostling for position ahead of the 2027 election, it would seem that the revolution was stillborn. On one side we have President William Ruto, a political child of the old order where power is based almost solely on alliance-building around ethnic constellations, and the capacity to raise, by hook or by crook, more money than anybody else.
He has by his side former opposition leader turned lynchpin of the Kenya Kwanza regime Raila Odinga. The veteran crusader for social and economic revolution has, in his dotage, adopted a conservative, nay, reactionary, mien. He is opposing the clamour for change under the guise of preventing chaos, but in reality, protecting President Ruto from the wrath of the people.
Ethnic enclave
On the other side is a nascent opposition alliance in which former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has risen to the top of the totem pole since his ejection from the Ruto eating trough. Mr Gachagua has energised opposition ranks with his mobilisation skills and capacity to coin catchy slogans and aphorisms that effortlessly go viral. He may be relatively youthful by standard of Kenyan politics, but he is still an old-school politician stuck in a tribal cocoon.
The ‘morima’ obsession that led to his impeachment as Dr Ruto’s deputy has remained with Mr Gachagua in opposition ranks. He is deaf to clear warnings that his quest to control a massive ethnic bloc vote, just as Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga control their constituencies, need not translate into what will be interpreted almost everywhere else as a push for retention of Mt Kenya political and economic supremacism to the exclusion of others.
Mr Gachagua remains wedded and welded to what can only be described as the Wamunyoro village worldview. It was quite revolting to see his ongoing tour of the United States resemble a Kikuyu festival, but it was also gratifying to see young Kenyans in the US warn him against the ‘morimaist’ agenda.
Mr Gachagua claims to speak for the youthful voices, which sparked the Gen Z revolt. Not with that insular obsession. His fellow travellers in the main opposition grouping—including the two front-runners for the presidential ticket, Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi—have been there and done that in government. They both carry a lot of baggage that cannot represent change. Neither can their colleagues: Eugene Wamalwa and Martha Karua.
Then we have former Chief Justice David Maraga and Busia Senator and famed justice campaigner Okoiti Omtatah, both trying to set themselves up as alternative third party presidential candidates and voices of the Gen Z. They both may have some appeal as rank outsiders untainted by the gluttony of our politics, but they are far from legitimate spokesmen and representatives of the ideals and aspirations of our youth.
Can the GenZ presidential aspirants please raise their hands?
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There was cause for celebration as Kenya started its Chan 2024 campaign with a merited win over highly-rated two-time winners, the Congo Democratic Republic. We can now dare dream of a glorious route to the final. Just as important, we are showcasing the ability to host a major football tournament in this dress rehearsal ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, to also be co-hosted with Uganda and Tanzania.
However, the organisers imposed a totally inexplicable prohibition on fans entering match venues with drums, vuvuzelas, whistles, horns, rattles and other ‘noisy’ instruments. What are the organisers afraid of?
Perhaps an answer can be found further down the list of prohibited items: Attire or flags, banners, posters etc carrying offensive or political messages! Ah, we get it, we must not upset the fragile sensibilities of our dear political leaders. But who decides what is offensive or politically objectionable? And have ‘wantam’ and ‘Ruto must go’ chants ever relied on a megaphone?
Given that the Gen Z protests adopted the national colours as a rallying symbol, we might get to the point where overzealous Securitate bars entry for fans brandishing national flags, or adorned in T-shirts, scarves and caps displaying the black, red and green national colours.
[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho
