LEADER: Gen Z maturity boon for the nation

Relentless and audacious messages, rush of songs and common sense debates flooded smartphones.

In Summary

• They have within them a considerable number that can redeem the force and ready it for the future.

• This is because in the history of Kenyan political protests, the police have been surprisingly restrained.

Protests against Finance Bill, 2024 in Nairobi on June 20, 2024
Protests against Finance Bill, 2024 in Nairobi on June 20, 2024
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY

The Gen Z anti-tax hike blitz has caught the imagination of the Kenyan public by storm.

Relentless and audacious messages, rush of songs and common sense debates flooded smartphones.

A nation that has been long convinced the youth harboured no interest in politics have been shocked by their patriotic spirit.

One of the major revelations in the past week about the much-ridiculed police service, though riddled with corruption and indiscipline, is that there is a flicker of hope.

They have within them a considerable number that can redeem the force and ready it for the future.

This is because in the history of Kenyan political protests, the police have been surprisingly restrained.

The protesters have themselves set the tone of the demos by conducting themselves in a tremendously mature fashion. No stones. No looting. No barricading key roads. No vehicles set ablaze.

This is a new era. Protests and demonstrations will probably never be the same again thanks to tech-driven mobilisation drive.

The police must dump the old anti-riots handbook into a bonfire and open a new civilised and progressive chapter.

The mindless shootings of the innocent and the maiming of protesters exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech and association must be respected.

That must be the hallmark of a modern police service.

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