When the Finance Bill protests started out, they seemed like any other demo, people gather in town, march for a day or two, end up on the news and you know, hope for change. They were not seen as necessarily dramatic, definitely not on the same scale as the MPigs or OccupyPlayground protests but something changed.
The spark that lit the match is said to have been started by Julius Kamau, a lone activist who tried to snatch the Finance Bill suitcase off the hands of the CS of Finance. His passionate statement in court will no doubt place him solidly on the right side of history.
“We cannot continue to live like slaves in our own country, in the land of our fathers, the land where our father’s bled and died” said Kamau.
Still, the protests could also be a product of pressure and time. As Trish Kinoti aptly put it on The Friday Fresh Podcast.
“It was only a matter of time before things blew up”
Change soon come
All in all, something changed.
By the second week, the crowds had began to swell. True to the Kenyan policeman playbook, somehow and some way, live rounds were fired at peaceful protestors and innocent people were killed.
This, they may have thought, will most likely scare the youths, most of whom they assumed would not have the courage to come back the next Tuesday or Thursday.
They were wrong. On Thursday, the demos started off normally, groups of people, a little teargas here and there, singing, dancing. Restaurants that had shunned the protestors were now welcoming them with open arms. No doubt shook by the online outrage and cancellation that would follow.
It was clear, they were dealing with a different animal this time. A tribeless, leaderless and classless movement. The government was baffled. Surely, someone must be paying them.
While Kenyan protests of such magnitude are populated by goons hired by politicians, these were full of youths who would quickly whip out phones to film injustice, quickly set up a ChatGTPs to explain a bill, quickly find ways to communicate using an app that functions like a walkie talkie.
Not at all what one cretin parliamentarian derisively desribed them as: ati coming in Ubers, holding Iphones and eating KFC. They were more than that and possessed what most Kenyan leaders like her seem to lack…heart.
Here, yet another kindling was added to the fire. The madharau displayed by MPs and government advisers. Gen Zs said: “bet”, Millennials: ” Hold my beer” and it was on like Donkey Kong.
My experience at the protests made me proud to be Kenyan, the love and care shown as people gave out toothpaste, poured water on teargassed faces, looked out for each other was unmatched. That was truly the Kenyan spirit on display.
My heart remains heavy though, because despite the very legitimate right to protest, deaths caused by trigger happy police, abductions and threats were meted out. It was almost as if the ruling class were *gasp* afraid?
Kenya will never be the same and this is what scares the political elite. We are entering a stage of accountability, a stage of ‘eternal vigilance’ as Teens Guide to the Constitution author and lawyer, Sandra Ochola put it.
‘We are exactly where we need to be as a country’
No longer at ease, we are decolonising the mind and exposing the parliament of owls.
It’s no wonder Juliani”s lyrics to have become a rallying cry.
“Sitasimama maovu yakitawala”.
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This post is dedicated to all whose lives have been cut short fighting for a better Kenya, we speak their names:
Rex Kanyike Masai
Brian Lemayian Kasaine
Margaret Obuya
Evans Kiratu
Eric Shieni
David Chege
Beasley Kamau
Ibrahim Kamau
Kennedy Onyango (12)
John Mwangi
Alice Njeri
Peter Otieno
Denis Lubanga
Samuel Kibet
Lucy Wambui
James Odhiambo
Michael Oduor
Paul Njuguna
Grace Achieng
David Mutua
Rose Muthoni
Tom Mboya
Collins Olunga
And many others killed, missing and maimed.