Kioni: The only person who resonated with my Sufuria Movement was Sifuna
By Ndiritu Wanjiru, May 12, 2026Jubilee Party Deputy Leader Jeremiah Kioni has revealed that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna was the only leader who truly understood and embraced the spirit behind his famous “Sufuria Movement” during the anti-government protests.
Speaking in an interview with a local radio station on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, Kioni, in his remarks on the protests which rocked the country following the 2022 general elections, highlighted Sifuna’s commitment and understanding of what the protests meant to Kenyans who were struggling.
“That informs you about the sufuria that was on my head, and I can tell you, and I have said it before, the only other person that I saw resonating with what was driving me in those maandamano was Sifuna,” Kioni said.
The former Ndaragwa Member of Parliament further revealed that they used to have strategy sessions in the early morning before they would go to the protest marches with sufurias as a symbol of the problems faced by the common citizen.
He has noted that during those meetings, former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader the late Raila Odinga and Nairobi senator Sifuna showed tremendous dedication to the cause and continued to focus on the issue of change.
“We would have some early morning meetings before we hit the road on those sufuria campaigns, and with Baba seated there, I could tell that in the whole of that mix, the people who woke up to really push something were Baba and Sifuna, and I would resonate with what it is that they were doing,” Kioni added.
“Sufuria movement” protests
One of the most prominent symbols of the protests was the ‘Sufuria Movement’, in which demonstrators carried cooking pots to represent the empty kitchens and the fact that many families couldn’t afford to feed themselves.
Kioni, who initiated the movement, was regularly seen at rallies with a sufuria on his head, which came to be linked to the rallies organised by the Azimio coalition.
The anti-government protests surfaced following the 2022 general election, as the opposition rallied against President William Ruto’s government for aggravating the economic hardships of Kenyans.
Protests escalated in 2023 after the government started implementing the Finance Bill 2023, which the opposition lamented, claiming that it imposed new taxes that would only add to the mounting financial burden faced by households in the context of the high cost of living.