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Nakuru based activist being arrested during the Gen Z annivesary protests. [File, Standard]
As Kenya marked the second anniversary of the Gen Z protests of 25 June 2024, the national conversation has rightly returned to justice, accountability, and the kind of republic we wish to become. Some moments change a nation’s trajectory forever. June 25 was one of them.
The loss of life during the Gen Z protests was not merely another episode of political unrest. It crossed a moral red line. A state can survive protests, criticism, and even periods of deep disagreement. It is far harder for a nation to remain unchanged when citizens, especially young citizens, are killed while demanding to be heard.
Kenya has seen this painful pattern before. From the death of Baby Pendo in 2017, through the victims of the 2023 Azimio maandamano, to the Gen Z protests of 2024 and 2025, our collective wound is not simply that lives were lost. It is that too often the deaths are followed by promises, commissions, compensation, and eventually silence. The recently announced reparations framework is a welcome step.
