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Toothpaste-smeared masks, teargas canisters and the charred carcases of one or two “Mariamu” (police issue vehicles), litter the ground of the Nairobi Central Business District. The number of people here for the #OccupyParliament protests on the 24th of June 2024 is innumerable. They are young and slightly older, vibrant and angry, chanting rude slogans against the President of the Republic. Sporadically a young protester breaks into our circle to raucous cheer, showing off the spoils from his incursions into parliament; a police shield here, a parliamentary salt shaker there, these young men and women are greeted like heroes coming home with the loot. There is a kind of euphoric violence in the air, the kind that emerges from letting out a long restrained, simmering, discontent.
The protests did not start with chaos, looting and disruption. Previous objections to the Finance Bill 2024 and its implications were calm, coordinated and peaceful. The Kenyan youth were lauded for their clear challenge to the executive, the peaceful execution of their protest and their civic engagement. Inexplicably, in response, the state applied its monopoly on violence to coerce the demonstrators into silence.
How? Seeking to dilute the constitutional basis for civic action, the state originated an anti-demonstration bill to curb protests. Then, under the guise of maintaining public order, the teargas, arrests, abductions and shootings started. And as the state-sanctioned violence was unleashed, Kenyan MPs, loyal to a fault, passed the legal trigger for the protests, the Finance Bill 2024, in a record 2-hour vote. In a horrifying sequence, reports of an extrajudicial massacre in Githurai emerged, with an unconfirmed number of casualties that is reported to be in the hundreds. On 27 June 2024, the Kenya Defence Forces were deployed to quell the protests on the basis of a dubious legal process endorsed by a shaken court. It is important to note that in this deadly game of democratic tug-of-war, the undeniable aggressor is the government of Kenya.
In an address to the nation, a visibly aggravated President Ruto reacted by warning Kenyans of the impending escalation of state-sanctioned violence if “criminal elements” did not cease their demonstrations. Imperious in demeanour, condescending in tone, the president addressed the youth who were risking their lives and scoffed at bereaved parents with the dismissive undertone of “fuck around and find out”.
Perhaps realising that his address was a tone-deaf threat, President Ruto’s second national address on 26 June was an exercise in grandstanding, scaffolded by cosmetic empathy. The self-congratulation was evident as the president re-educated the people of Kenya on how much he has achieved during the short time that he has been in office and why we the protesting people collectively misunderstood the substance and intent of the Finance Bill 2024. Flanked by his gang of clapping goons, he continually croaked that he was right, but he would eventually reluctantly concede to la volonté générale and reject the Finance Bill 2024… to more clapping.
Through its actions, the Kenya Kwanza administration has been acrobatic in demonstrating its contempt for Kenyans. Initially dismissive of the pleas of the youth, then attributing their organisation to the actions of foreign sponsors, Kenya Kwanza showed how little they think of the capacity of Kenyan youth. Unable to fathom that the youth can mobilise, organise and become involved in civil engagement, KK’s first reaction to the demos was to look for foreign enemies of the state.
KK’s disdainful attitude towards the youth has been further demonstrated by the exclusion of Kenya’s largest singular voting block from its policy-making process. Further, the fact that the president’s own stated vision for the millions of young demonstrators who are asking him for a better Kenya has been to ship them off to foreign lands to work like slaves illustrates how little the KK administration thinks of Kenyan youth. It demonstrates a paucity of vision for this administration and where there is no vision, the youth know they will perish.
The second clear indicator of KK’s contempt was the mockery the youth were subjected to as they engaged in the civic process. Allusions to their ignorance, their inexperience, began with the first protests. KK mocked the youth by pushing the Finance Bill 2024 through its second and third reading. They mocked the youth by calling them criminals and killing them in their homes, they mocked the youth by deploying the very army that is mandated to protect their sovereignty against them.
Perhaps the most egregious insult to the people and the youth is KK’s collective gaslighting. Demonstrating a marked lack of empathy, KK’s policies have been punitive and destructive, especially to smallholder farmers, small and medium-sized businesses, and the youth. In what seems like an orchestrated attempt to sabotage the economy, destroy wealth and ensure that the bulk of Kenyan youth is solely concerned with survival, the president’s pronouncements about a growing, prosperous economy are incongruous with the lived experience of Kenyans. Cognisant of the hustler narrative that brought KK to power, to stand on the international stage and paint a picture of Kenya that only exists for 0.95 per cent of the population, imagining that the youth will be seen but not heard, will swallow all the policy whims of a dysfunctional government, is real “delulu”.
The defining characteristic of the hubris displayed by the Kenya Kwanza administration is a mental distortion of all information through the prism of superiority. As a consequence, I see a continuation and entrenchment of a top-down, tribal management style, patriarchal in attitude, self-centred in intent and destructive in effect. However, as the popular adage goes, pride comes before a fall; the youth have clearly shown that they will not be ruled by a leader who is contemptuous of their thoughts, needs and desires.
