Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo has indicated that the ODM party’s cooperation agreement with the ruling Kenya-Kwanza government was not an act of betrayal on the Gen Zs.

Speaking during a morning TV show on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, Odhiambo stated that while the youth shook the nation at the height of the protests against the controversial tax proposals in June 2024, there was no valid direction to take.

“After the Gen Z issues which, they think is a betrayal; for those of us who have been there, done that, it is not really a betrayal because after all that then what,” the MP quipped.

Only option

“There was no answer to that then. For us, (cooperation with the government) could have been the only option.”

In 2024, nationwide protests rocked major towns with a significant number of youthful Kenyans being involved in the demonstrations against tax measures proposed by the government.

The tensions climaxed on June 25, 2024, with an unprecedented breach of both houses of parliament where legislators were approving the tax proposals against widespread public disapproval.

Security personnel manning the legislative houses were overwhelmed when huge crowds of the youth stormed parliament buildings amid a hail of bullets.

Gen Z protest chaos

Legislators scrambled out of the chambers as the parliamentary orderlies evacuated them to safety, while Senate Speaker Amason Kingi was moved out of the premises in an ambulance.

In the aftermath of the invasion, several pieces of furniture and wall art were destroyed and a section of parliament was set on fire before it was put out.

The protesting youth also feasted on delicacies at the parliament’s cafeteria before they were flushed out by additional police officers who had reinforced the original security manning the key government installation.

Following the development, President William Ruto took the unprecedented step of withdrawing the controversial bill, dismissing almost all of his cabinet and making a deal with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Fizzled out

The demos quickly fizzled out after Ruto started naming some of ODM party leadership into his cabinet as Gen Zs cried foul that their course had been hijacked.

Political commentator Herman Manyora in an interview, however, observed that the youth had retreated and could come back stronger if the underlying issues were not addressed.

“The government hasn’t listened to the Gen-Z demands, and so the storm is growing. They have only gone back to re-
strategize and will soon come out,” Manyora observed.