Mr President, listen to what youth are saying
Scenes from Moi Avenue, Nairobi CBD during the protests.
On a crowded Nairobi street, amid the chants of protest and clouds of tear gas, stood Brian, a 24-year-old graduate with a degree in civil engineering. He held up a simple cardboard sign: “Engineer. Jobless. Taxed. Ignored.”
He wasn’t there to loot or throw stones. He came because, despite doing everything right—staying in school, working hard, avoiding crime—the system had failed him. Like many in his generation, Brian is angry. Not because he is entitled, but because he has been forgotten.
Brian represents a generation of educated but unemployed Kenyans. A generation that watched their parents sacrifice for their education, only to be handed joblessness, corruption and empty promises. It is young people like Brian who have taken to the streets across Kenya, not because they enjoy chaos, but because they are demanding accountability.
These protests are not just about fuel prices or taxes. They are about a breach of trust between the government and its people. Over the past months, Kenyans have been burdened with taxes and other deductions, forcing many to choose between food and fare. Yet, as citizens sacrifice, they watch government convoys grow longer, delegations fly out in droves, and scandals involving billions unfold with no consequences.
The anger we are seeing in the streets is not manufactured. It is real. It is raw. It is the voice of a nation that has reached its boiling point.
Worse, still, is the response to the protests. Instead of dialogue, there have been crackdowns. Activists abducted. Peaceful protesters beaten. Young people met with bullets. This is not how a democratic State responds to dissent. It is how authoritarianism begins.
President William Ruto must understand: these protests are not about bringing down the government. They are about waking it up. They are about telling those in power that Kenyans are not just voters, they are stakeholders.
When Brian stood in the street, he wasn’t demanding a job on a silver platter. He was demanding to be seen, heard and respected. He was speaking for millions of Kenyans who want a country that works for them.
Mr President, the streets are speaking. Are you listening?
Charles Wanjohi, Nairobi