By Kevin Kioko
The air over Nairobi thickened with acrid smoke on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, as flames consumed court buildings in Kikuyu and looters ransacked shops along Kenyatta Avenue, in Bungoma and Nyeri towns. What began as a solemn commemoration and a tribute to the lives extinguished during the 2024 Gen-Z protests morphed into a nightmare.
White crosses held aloft for the dead now trembled beside shattered glass and smouldered in streets where goons, armed with crude weapons, hunted the vulnerable among us. Over a dozen souls perished, and more than 400 incurred needless injuries. Amid the chaos, many security guards were hurt as were police officers on duty in multiple locations across Kenya.
The tragedy was certainly not spontaneous. Credible reports detail how criminal militias infiltrated protests in Nairobi, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, and several other counties. These were not grieving citizens but mercenaries exploiting grief. They arrived with premeditated malice, torching police stations, looting pharmacies, and violating innocent picketers.
Protester navigate through a huge cloud of white teargas smoke
In Machakos and Makueni, gunfire claimed lives, while in Nairobi’s alleys, women were assaulted under the cover of tear gas. Even medics, including volunteers shielding the wounded with fluorescent vests, were not spared by the anarchists alike.
This violence was a grotesque perversion of Kenya’s constitutional right to protest. Article 37 of our Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, yet what unfolded was terrorism costumed as displeasure. As Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen rightly declared, these were not protesters but criminals out to desecrate Kenya’s soul.
Amid the anarchy and chaos of Wednesday, a part of Mombasa shone as a defiant counterpoint. Thousands gathered, bearing portraits and chanting “Haki Kwa Wote!” (Justice for All!).
They did not burn buildings, loot or damage property. Goons did not stalk Mombasa. Why? Because organisers collaborated with police and established mutual trust ahead of the demo! Protesters marched within designated routes while officers shielded them from infiltrators. The result? No casualties; just dignified dissent. This is the way to go.
Mombasa proved a vital truth. That security agents are not inherent foes and that when citizens and state align against chaos, democracy prevails.
Man kicks a teargas cannister shortly after exploding during June 25th demos.
To heal, Kenya must embrace Mombasa’s covenant.
First, genuine protesters ought to recognise that rejecting police protection only empowers criminals. The gangs infiltrating marches thrive in voids of trust. By coordinating peaceful marches with lawful agencies, reporting suspicious actors and agreeing on protest corridors, civic voices can isolate rotten eggs among us.
Second, the state should purge its own rot. The few malcontents among the police service should be identified, isolated and punished for going against their call of duty. On the whole, the police restrained themselves as never before in the wake of audacious provocation.
Finally, justice must cascade downward. If indeed there were people who financed the Wednesday skirmishes, they deserve to be punished for premeditating chaos and funding criminals to cause harm to innocent Kenyans and unarmed picketers.
Next time we go to the streets to air our grievances I expect order if we are to isolate confusion from genuine concerns. And by the way I am not about to stop joining my colleagues in demonstrations as long as there are underlying issues to be addressed.
I am proud to be a Gen-Z and ready to be counted when the moment to stand up presents itself.
Kioko is a Gen-Z who joined genuine picketers on Wednesday, June 25th 2025
