Kenya's young Generation Z will undoubtedly go down the annuls of history as a group that changed the country's political trajectory by margins few imagined possible at the start of 2024.
That today the Opposition can wine and dine with the government barely two years after a hotly contested election left them bitter rivals, speaks volumes about the extent the Gen Z revolt changed Kenya's political landscape in just weeks.
The youngsters went after the Kenya Kwanza administration and almost brought it to its knees but Raila Odinga, who claimed his victory was stolen in 2022, came to its rescue.
Armed with nothing but smartphones and water bottles, the young boys and girls were angered by President William Ruto's apparent unresponsiveness to citizen concerns, particularly regarding the Finance Bill, 2024, whose tax proposals Kenyans considered punitive.
Despite opinion polls indicating that 83 per cent of the country was opposed to the proposed taxes, the majority side in Parliament vowed to use their numerical advantage in the House and ensure the new piece of legislation passed.
This 'mpende msipende' attitude outraged an already angry and hungry populace that was weighed down by the high cost of living but rather than just complain, Gen Z chose to do something about it.
As the Finance Committee of the National Assembly chaired by Molo MP Kimani Kuria prepared to table the controversial Bill on Tuesday, June 18, Gen Z were mobilising themselves on social media for a nationwide street protest to express discontentment with the Bill.
Using the hashtag #OccupyParliament and #Reject, organisers of the demonstration who largely remained faceless advocated for nonviolent disapproval of Parliament's decision to debate the Bill despite mounting public pressure to drop it.
The idea was to storm Parliament on the material day to prevent the tabling of the Bill and stop the initial process of legalising the tax proposals.
The youngsters poured onto the streets in numbers and engaged anti-riot police in running battles the whole day, but security officers in Nairobi largely managed to prevent the protesters from storming Parliament.
Despite continued expression of dissent against the Finance Bill during the second round of protests on Thursday, June 20, MPs voted to pass the Bill at the second reading even as crowds outside Parliament precincts shouted "reject!"
Outraged protesters angered by the legislators' open disregard of public opinion pelted the MPs' vehicles in the parking lot adjacent to Uhuru Highway with stones.
Massive destruction of property and looting were also reported in satellite towns of Nairobi Cosmopolitan like Kitengela.
The government defended MPs' saying they made concessions and removed some contentious clauses in the Bill, including 16 per cent VAT on bread, excise duty on cooking oil, 2.5 per cent motor vehicle tax and eco levy on sanitary pads, mobile phones, diapers and other locally manufactured items.
Gen Z rubbished the development and demanded total withdrawal of the Finance Bill.
They retreated to social media and mobilized themselves for a fresh round of #OccupyParliament protest on Tuesday, June 25, the same day MPs were to debate the Bill and take a vote.
On D-day, surging crowds overpowered the police overran security barricades and stormed Parliament immediately after MPs passed the Bill.
What followed was a clash between the police and protesters, the aftermath of which left several people dead on the streets around Parliament, a police lorry was torched and a section of Parliament was vandalised and set on fire.
A visibly furious President William Ruto addressed the nation from State House that night and described the protest as an act of treason, warning that the planners, financiers and abetters of the protests would not go "scot-free."
"It is possible that the criminals who reigned terror on innocent people and challenged our security organs are likely to continue with this behaviour," Ruto said.
The following day, reportedly following pressure from the US, the President climbed down from his tough stance and said he had heard what Kenyans had said, resoundingly so, and would in due course announce several changes, including the formation of a broad-based government with the face of the whole country.
This change would come on July 11 when Ruto fired his entire Cabinet save for Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
In the new-look Cabinet, he reappointed 10 of his former ministers but allocated them different portfolios save for Kithure Kindiki who retained the Interior docket.
In keeping his word about the formation of a broad-based government, Ruto reached out to his longtime political nemesis-turned-ally, Raila Odinga, and appointed four members of his inner circle, something Ruto had repeatedly sworn would never happen as was the case with the handshake under the Jubilee administration.
Former Mombasa Governor, Hassan Joho, a fierce Ruto critic, was handed the Maritime and Blue Economy ministry, John Mbadi, another of the President's critics was put in charge of state coffers at the National Treasury.
Leader of the minority side in the National Assembly, Opiyo Wandayi, a diehard Raila loyalist, was appointed the Energy and Petroleum CS while ODM deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya was put in charge of MSMEs and Cooperatives ministry.
The ripple effects of the Gen Z-led revolt did not stop there.
On October 17, the Senate voted 282-44 to uphold the National Assembly's October 8 historic impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua, making him the first sitting deputy president in Kenya's history to be impeached.
Gachagua's ouster sparked a flurry of political realignments with the former DP reportedly said to be in talks with Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka about the possibility of forming an alliance against Ruto in the 2027 General Election.
Gachagua is still fighting his removal from office in the corridors of Justice but should the court uphold his ouster, he will be barred from running for office.
With the likes of Kalonzo on the flanks, the Kamba leader could easily inherit Ruto's 2022 Mt Kenya vote bloc that appears to have slipped away following his falling out with Gachagua.
The former DP has toned down his political activities and appealed for calm and patience across Mt Kenya, saying he will provide direction at the right time.
He has shunned combative confrontation with critics and avoided holding public rallies in favour of attending church services and funerals where his speeches are heavily tilted towards calls for calm and patience.
"We have no problem with the President. We want to give him time for the remaining three years to fulfil the promises he made," Gachagua said during a church service in Gichugu on November 3.
He has insinuated that his possible political comeback will be massive, drawing parallels with the Biblical Samson's after Delilah betrayed him to the Philistines.
"Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles they set him to grinding grain in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved," Gachagua said, quoting Judges 16: 21-22.
He spoke after attending Sunday service at the AIPCA Kangari, Kigumo in Murang'a county on November 24.
The former DP challenged the government to listen to the Church following its criticism of the Kenya Kwanza administration as one that has fostered a culture of lies and failed to fulfil its pledges.
"The church speaks for all, and especially the voiceless just like Christ did; we must listen to the Church and respect it in its truthfulness," he said.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that a purge is simmering within the government that will affect all state departments as Ruto prepares to accommodate new political allies and lay the groundwork for the 2027 election.
