Two years after thousands of young Kenyans poured into the streets to reject the Finance Bill 2024, the country's Gen Z movement is no longer defined by a single protest or a single slogan.
The crowds that once marched shoulder to shoulder under the Kenyan flag have dispersed into different spaces. Some have entered political parties. Others have become digital civic educators, community organisers, policy advocates and content creators. Many still believe peaceful demonstrations remain the most effective way of demanding accountability, while others now argue that lasting change can only come from occupying Parliament, county assemblies and other decision-making institutions.
Yet despite these different approaches, according to a nationwide Gen Z opinion survey by Pan African Research Services (PARS), a Nairobi-based research consultancy established in 2008 with field operations across more than a dozen African countries, one thing has remained consistent: the frustrations that united Kenya's youngest generation in June 2024 have not gone away.
Senior staff at PARS are members of ESOMAR, the European Society for Opinion and Market Research, binding them to an international code of conduct for research practitioners. The firm has previously conducted work for the World Bank, the African Union and the Kenya Revenue Authority. For this survey, PARS interviewed 2,401 Kenyans aged 18 to 29 across all eight regions between May and June 2026, using face-to-face interviews and multi-stage cluster sampling at a 95 percent confidence interval. The survey did not publicly disclose who commissioned it.
According to the study, unemployment, corruption, poor governance and the rising cost of living continue to dominate conversations among young people, shaping how they work, organise politically and prepare for the 2027 General Election.
A protester waves a Kenyan flag along University Way in Nairobi during the commemoration of the Gen Z protests on June 25, 2025.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
Rather than disappearing after the dramatic scenes that captured global attention in 2024, the survey noted that Kenya's youth movement appears to have evolved into something more complex, a decentralised network of activism operating simultaneously on the streets, online and inside political institutions.
"Unemployment and corruption remain the most pressing concerns among Gen Z respondents, while poor leadership and corruption were identified as the main causes of the challenges facing young people. 95 per cent of youths say they intend to vote in the 2027 General Election, while 74 per cent report having participated in civic activities. Yet six out of every ten respondents say they still do not feel their voices are heard in national decision-making," the study found.
John Keya, Research Manager at PARS, said the data reflects a generation that is becoming more politically engaged while simultaneously growing more frustrated with the responsiveness of public institutions.
"The issue is no longer participation," Keya explained. "Young people are participating in civic activities, engaging in public forums and using online platforms. The challenge is responsiveness. They feel institutions are not responding adequately to their concerns."
Speaking to Nation , Adrian Oluoch, 22, an advocate trainee at the Kenya School of Law, political and civic educator, digital creator and a national youth leader aligned with Linda Mwananchi explained that disconnect is exactly what keeps him involved.
Long before June 25, 2024, he had already immersed himself in civic mobilisation, helping organise young people around governance issues while still in university.
When the Finance Bill protests erupted, he became one of many young organisers mobilising fellow youth both physically and online. Through TikTok and other social media platforms, he encouraged participation, explained provisions contained in the Finance Bill and urged young Kenyans to demand accountability from elected leaders.
Protesters march along University Way in Nairobi on June 25, 2026, during demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z anti-Finance Bill protests.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
For Oluoch, social media quickly became more than a communication tool.
"It is not just about passing information," he said. "It is a collective act that gets people talking about an issue together and helps shape public discourse."
The visibility, however, came with consequences. He says he was arrested during the 2024 protests alongside other demonstrators before later being released without being charged. Since then, he says politicians have occasionally recognised him in public places and attempted to persuade him to soften his criticism of government. Online, he says, the pressure has been even more direct. Anonymous users have repeatedly demanded that he remove videos touching on sensitive government issues. Others have threatened violence or called for his arrest whenever he publishes content critical of senior state officials.
The intimidation has changed how he works, he admits, making him more cautious about his movements and security. But it has not changed why he continues.
"What we wanted in 2024 has not been achieved. We still have high taxes. We still have corruption," Oluoch said. "We still have a budget that many young people don't believe responds to their needs. The problems remain."
His experience reflects a broader trend highlighted in the survey. Although a large majority of respondents remain optimistic about eventually securing meaningful employment, many say they face structural barriers including corruption, limited opportunities, skills mismatches, low wages and nepotism.
Susan Kahinga, Research Director at PARS explained that for many, these frustrations are no longer viewed as isolated economic problems but as symptoms of deeper governance failures.
"What Gen Z are looking for is a new social contract. They are tired of the old way of doing politics," she said. She further explained that what they found out during the survey is that Gen Z are looking for leadership that speaks their language, understands their aspirations and responds to the issues that affect them every day.
Linda Mwananchi Movement leaders (from left) Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata address a public rally at Kivulini Grounds in Thika, Kiambu County, on June 14, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
According to the survey, Linda Mwananchi emerged as the most preferred political outfit among respondents, attracting an average support of 55 per cent nationally. "Linda Mwananchi leads with 55 percent average support, followed by Kenya Kwanza 17 percent, United Opposition 15 percent and Linda Ground 11.8 percent," the survey reported.
The national figure requires context. In Bungoma alone, Linda Mwananchi support stands at 91 percent, a concentration that pulls the national average upward significantly. In Garissa, Kenya Kwanza leads at 46.9 percent. In Kisumu, Linda Ground takes 34.5 percent. The data does not describe a generation with uniform political loyalties so much as one whose regional patterns older Kenyans would still recognise.
The findings suggest many young voters are becoming increasingly attracted to political movements that they perceive as speaking directly to issues such as corruption, accountability and youth unemployment rather than traditional ethnic alliances. Unlike previous generations whose political identities were often shaped by ethnicity or regional affiliations, today's young voters increasingly appear to organise around shared socioeconomic experiences.
"They are facing similar challenges regardless of where they come from and trying to find jobs, build careers and survive economically," Kahinga explained. "Those common experiences are becoming stronger than many of the traditional political divisions we've seen before."
How the Gen Z protests changed Kenya forever
However, for some Gen Z, such as Meshack Kiprotich, 23, Secretary for Youth Affairs at KANU, not everyone who took part in the 2024 protests believes demonstrations should remain the movement's primary strategy.
"The experience of the anti-Finance Bill protests reinforced the need for young people to move beyond the streets and into the country's decision-making institutions," Kiprotich said, "where they can influence laws and policies from within."
Kiprotich was among those who joined demonstrations in Nairobi before returning to mobilise young people in Kericho against the Finance Bill 2024. "I believed that the proposed tax measures then would deepen the burden already facing ordinary Kenyans. That is why I participated."
His activism, however, came with its own risks. In Kericho, which he describes as politically aligned with the President, he says he was repeatedly confronted by local residents who questioned why he was mobilising protests against the government. "Despite the pressure, I was still determined and continued organising youth throughout the demonstrations," he said.
The experience convinced him that young people had succeeded in demonstrating their political power. What happened afterwards changed his thinking.
"Following the formation of the broad-based government and subsequent political developments," Kiprotich explained, "I began questioning whether protests alone could deliver the structural reforms young people were demanding."
His argument is that if young people remain outside political institutions, they will continue reacting to decisions made by others. If they enter those institutions themselves, they can shape legislation before unpopular policies become law.
"We need young people to become lawmakers. We should not always be outside protesting against laws. We should also be inside making better laws."
The belief that change should come from inside institutions, however, is not shared by everyone who stood on the frontlines of the 2024 demonstrations.
Billy Omaset, 27, freelance digital creator, says the streets remain an indispensable democratic space. Omaset did not begin his career as a content creator. After pursuing a diploma in hospitality, he entered the industry hoping to build a career. However, during his attachment, he encountered testimonies of low wages, poor working conditions and little opportunity for professional growth from colleagues who had spent years in the sector.
"I watched employees who had spent years in the sector struggle to improve their livelihoods," he said.
Instead of remaining in an industry he felt offered little future, he turned to digital content creation, inspired by the growing number of young Kenyans earning a living online. That decision would eventually place him at the centre of one of Kenya's defining political moments.
When demonstrations erupted against the Finance Bill in June 2024, Omaset joined as a protester and digital content creator. Armed with his phone, he livestreamed demonstrations on TikTok, recorded confrontations between protesters and police, and uploaded videos that quickly spread across social media.
"As a creator, my role was to document reality. I wanted people to see exactly what was happening on the ground."
The visibility brought consequences. He received anonymous phone calls demanding that he delete videos he had shared online. During one of the demonstrations, he was arrested and detained for about five hours before being released. The experience frightened him, but not enough to stop documenting events.
Instead, he continued producing civic content and participating in demonstrations, arguing that digital platforms have become one of the few spaces where ordinary citizens can directly challenge official narratives. Even after the 2025 commemorative protests, he says many of the grievances that brought young people into the streets remain unresolved. Police brutality, corruption and weak public participation continue to dominate public debate, he argues, despite repeated government promises of reform.
"Peaceful protest is a constitutional right," he says. "It is still one of the few ways citizens can compel those in power to listen."
He also believes commemorating those who lost their lives during the 2024 protests is about more than remembrance. "It is about demanding justice for families that are still waiting for answers."
Across Facebook, X, TikTok and Instagram, thousands of young Kenyans on June 25, 2026, replaced their profile pictures with photographs of people who died during the June 2024 demonstrations, including Rex Masai and Denzel Omondi. The campaign transformed personal social media accounts into virtual memorials, illustrating how remembrance itself has become part of Kenya's evolving protest culture.
Unlike previous generations, Gen Z increasingly moves seamlessly between physical demonstrations and digital activism. Hashtags, livestreams, civic explainers, short-form videos and online memorial campaigns have become extensions of street protests rather than substitutes for them. According to the experts, this evolution reflects a generation that has grown up communicating digitally and naturally carries its political engagement into those same platforms.
Keya says online participation has become one of the defining characteristics of Kenya's youngest voters. "We are seeing much more sophisticated civic participation. Young people are engaging online, participating in public forums and demanding accountability in ways that previous generations did not."
Yet despite this increased engagement, many still feel institutions are failing to respond. The survey found that while nearly three-quarters of respondents had participated in civic activities, a majority still felt excluded from national decision-making.
"The problem is not whether young people participate. They do," Keya emphasised. "The challenge is whether their participation actually influences policy."
Despite expressing only moderate trust in elected leaders, an overwhelming 95 per cent of respondents say they intend to vote in the 2027 General Election. According to researchers, this is evidence that young people are separating democratic institutions from the individuals who currently occupy them.
"They have not lost faith in elections," Keya explained. "They have lost confidence in some leaders. Voting remains, in their minds, one of the most important ways of bringing about change."
Kahinga believes the experience of the 2024 protests contributed to this thinking. Following the demonstrations, numerous youth-led campaigns encouraged voter registration, arguing that meaningful political change ultimately depends on the ballot. "The protests created political awareness. Many young people now understand that demonstrations and voting are not competing strategies, they complement each other."
Although unemployment remains the single biggest challenge identified in the survey, many respondents no longer define success as obtaining permanent formal employment. Instead, financial independence emerged as the dominant aspiration. Creative industries, technology, STEM careers and the digital economy ranked among the most attractive career paths.
"Youth today are looking for flexibility. They want multiple sources of income. They don't necessarily want to depend on one employer for the rest of their careers," Keya said.
Thousands of other young Kenyans increasingly see entrepreneurship, freelancing and digital work not as alternatives to employment but as employment itself.
With roughly 12 million youths born between 1997 and 2008, the majority of Gen Z Kenyans eligible to vote, the generation is becoming one of the country's most influential electoral blocs. Their concerns are remarkably consistent across gender and geography, revolving around employment, corruption, governance and accountability rather than traditional political loyalties.
Researchers argue that political parties hoping to win their support will need to move beyond slogans. Young voters, they say, are increasingly evaluating leaders on whether they offer practical solutions to unemployment, strengthen anti-corruption measures and create meaningful opportunities for youth participation.
According to the survey, 61 percent believe their voices are not heard in the national decision-making process.
Keya believes that politicians can no longer afford to dismiss the generation as merely vocal online. "They represent the future political direction of this country. They are a voice that cannot be ignored. Whether that voice is expressed through protest, digital activism or electoral participation may continue to evolve."
