'Let's do it afraid': Kenya's Gen Z women not done with the fight for change, two years on
From left: Gen Z protesters Anita Barasa, Shakira Wafula and Hanifa Adan.
What you need to know:
- Two years after the Finance Bill protests, young women are organising differently but remain politically active.
- Kenya’s Gen Z women insist corruption and police brutality still demand resistance and accountability.
Two years ago this week, Kenya's streets became a battleground. Young people poured out of their homes, their universities, and their uncertainties, and walked into tear gas, rubber bullets and, for some, death. The Finance Bill protests of June 2024 shook the country and briefly gave it back to its youth.
For the young women who stood at the forefront of those demonstrations, the question now is not whether it was worth it. Most have already answered that. The question is what they have done with what it gave them, and what they plan to do next.
On June 20, 2024, young people poured onto the streets of Nairobi to protest against the Finance Bill. The demonstrations were met with volleys of tear gas and 29-year-old Rex Kanyike Masai was shot dead. His killing became an unforgettable marker of that day, crystallising the risks young Kenyans were willing to take in defiance of a government they felt had betrayed them.
Amidst the chaos, another voice emerged that captured the nation's attention: that of Anita Barasa, then just 19 years old. A film technology and performing arts student at the time, she had paused her studies weeks earlier to reflect on her course choice and immerse herself in the growing anti-Finance Bill activism.
“Because I paused, I had time to go deep on the Finance Bill and the Constitution, to read around our rights,” she said in an interview this week.
Content creator and activist Anita Barasa during an interview at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on June 20, 2024.
In a video message directed to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Anita urged him not to join the protests, insisting that the youth would act on his behalf. “Please, stay at home,” she said in a clip recorded on the streets of Nairobi that day. “We saw your efforts, okay? We saw everything you did for Kenya. Now let us. We miss you, but please don't even come outside. We are here on your behalf [sic].”
The video went viral, cementing her as one of the unexpected faces of the Gen Z uprising and sparking both admiration and criticism. The backlash was swift, with critics dismissing her as too young to speak on political matters. But Anita pushed on.
“If they feel like I am too young, they have lived longer than me, and they have said nothing. I stepped out. I did something. All they had to say was hate speech,” she said. “They had chances to vote for better leaders, but said nothing. Yet they are turning children into activists, even my nine-year-old sister. I am trying to fight for a better Kenya for you and me, not just myself.”
She went on: “More taxes were being implemented without us having a say. I was just stepping into adulthood, and now it was becoming my problem. So I needed to say something or do something.”
She contrasted the Gen Z protests with earlier demonstrations, which she felt were often orchestrated by politicians. “Most of the protests before that were political. A politician is the one calling out people to go outside,” she said. “But these decisions that we keep crying about are made in rooms where young people are not present. That is a future we cannot sit and watch happening. We need to show up in rooms that make decisions for us.”
She later resumed her studies in early 2025, continuing with film technology and performing arts, and has since added international relations to her academic pursuits. For her, activism and education are intertwined. “It gave me the platform that I use now to entertain, document my life, and speak out on matters that come to my attention,” she said. “It has given me more opportunities than taken away from me. Apart from all the shenanigans during the protests, I would say it gave me a boost.”
Now aged 21, Anita's ambitions stretch beyond activism. She has a clear plan to enter formal politics. “I am actually planning on running for MCA (Member of the County Assembly) next year, in Ruai, Nairobi. That is where I live. I am trying to make the change from home. Charity begins at home,” she said.
For her, the protests were not just about resistance but about laying the groundwork for representation. Tomorrow (today), she will be out to commemorate those who lost their lives, including a friend whose brother was among the victims. “Even if you are afraid now, you should be more afraid of a future where someone else is dictating your life,” she said.
“If you are afraid and you are a young person, just come, let's do it afraid. Living sometimes is worse than dying, honestly. Living with a yoke around your neck. For me, doing me is stepping out despite being afraid. At least I did my part [sic].”
Anita was not alone at the forefront. Across the city, other young women were putting themselves in harm's way. Shakira Wafula is one of them. For her, June 20, 2024 will forever remain etched in her memory, the day she confronted police officers who were blocking protesters from occupying Parliament, five days before the main demonstration on June 25.
Human rights activist Shakira Wafula (second right), joined by other activists, addresses the press in Uhuru Park, Nairobi, on July 30, 2025.
“I vividly remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a Thursday, and we were determined to get to Parliament so that we could stop the debate on the Finance Bill. However, the police were adamant and hell-bent on preventing us from marching on. I got upset and confronted them. They seemed surprised that a young woman like me would question what they were doing. They were not used to being questioned or taken to task,” she tells Nation.
Moments after the confrontation, police dispersed the protesters with tear gas and water cannons. Shakira shot to prominence during the demonstrations for her boldness in standing up to officers accused of targeting innocent and unarmed protesters.
Two years on, she admits she has pulled back from public-facing online activism, not by choice, but because her social media accounts have been shadow-banned, meaning much of her following cannot see what she posts. “I am still organising. In fact, I, together with other young Kenyan women, have been behind the Tuko Kadi initiative that has helped many young people to register as voters,” she says.
She is clear that the cause has not been abandoned. “As young people, we will continue pressing for better governance. We cannot sit back and watch as other people make decisions that touch on us without our inclusion. Our voices and demands must be heard,” she says. “As long as corruption, lack of accountability and police brutality continue to be the order of the day, young people will continue to protest.”
The women held the line
Two years on, those who study youth politics and women's organising say the female faces of the 2024 protests did not disappear. They changed tack. Bina Maseno, Founder and Executive Director of Badili Africa, an organisation that works with young women in politics, says the shift is deliberate and should not be mistaken for a retreat.
“We have young women behind the Tuko Kadi movement that has seen many young people register as voters this year. They are organising and strategising differently and behind the scenes,” she told the Nation.
She points to Hanifa Adan, one of the prominent female voices during the protests, as an example of how influence has taken new form. “We now have Hanifa writing strong opinions that many people are reading and debating. She is basically shaping minds through her writing, something she did not do before the Gen Z protests,” Bina says.
Human rights Activist Hanifa Adan takes a selfie with protesters on Kimathi Street in Nairobi on June 25, 2025, during demonstrations to mark one year since anti-government protesters stormed Parliament, an incident that left several people dead and many others injured.
She draws a pointed contrast with the young men who were equally visible in 2024. “All the young men who were vocal in the protests have sold out. They are now in someone's pocket, singing someone's tune and doing someone's campaign,” she says. “Since the 2024 Gen Z protests, there has been no young woman who was in the frontline who has been bought by the government. They are still standing for the ideals they held in 2024.”
Political analyst Charles Munyui agrees that reduced visibility does not mean reduced commitment. “At some point, young people realised that the problems they are encountering are a result of poor politics and governance, and that is when things changed,” he says. “I think they could have retreated to take stock, to learn and understand how politics and governance work. In due time, they will come out and make the requisite change.”
He adds that unresolved grievances, the university funding model, corruption, and police brutality mean the conditions that produced 2024 have not gone away. “In my view, these young people will still come out and protest regardless of their gender. They are just waiting for a trigger, and they will pour into the streets.”
For Anita Barasa, the trigger and the response are already decided. “Even if you are afraid,” she says, “you should be more afraid of a future where someone else is dictating your life.”
