Darker spectre looms with use of armed goons to quell protests

The Gen Z uprising was fuelled by social media in crystal-clear demands: affordable living costs, an end to police brutality, and honest leadership.
However, there is a dark force that appears in all their protests. Witnesses report peaceful demonstrations, only for unidentified assailants to break in behind police lines, looting stores and burning cars in full view of officers.
Human-rights observers reported how armed militia appeared to operate alongside the police in major towns where the protests were conducted, an accusation the police have not denied.
This breach of trust cuts deep for a generation seeking to shape their country’s future.
Nairobi, Kisumu, and Eldoret witnesses describe the goons as people who act with military precision. The goons come in groups, sometimes dropped off by matatus that in local circles are known to have connections with local politicians.
They cause trouble, then retreat, leaving genuine demonstrators to suffer tear gas and bullets. Human rights organisations have documented instances where goons were observed collaborating with uniformed officers or permitted to stroll off scot-free while peaceful protesters were apprehended.
The message is clear: disrupt, discredit, then disappear.
This is not a new tactic, nor one specific to Kenya. In Zimbabwe, youth militias known as the Green Bombers have been utilised for years to harass opposition factions.
In 2019, they forcibly dispersed fuel protests, teaming up with police to beat and arrest hundreds. The state claimed not to be involved, but survivors had a different tale to tell.
A tale of enforced disappearances, torture, and terror employed to quash dissent.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s ordeal has assumed another form. There, gangs have taken over much of the capital, compelling citizens to decide between armed groups and a weak state.
Protesters demanding security are caught between being squeezed by cartels and begging for help from a government that cannot help.
When non-state actors take advantage of the void created by weak governance, protests may degenerate into anarchy.
To Kenyan youth, these examples are important. Citizens need to protect their ranks, know fellow protesters, record and share evidence of goons’ infiltration.
And when they infiltrate, they should be treated as enemies for they can single-handedly water down our message to the government. Remember, the oppressor uses the oppressed to maintain control.
They divide, they provoke, and they manipulate. To the government, the lesson is even clearer: recruiting muscle to quash dissenting youth protesting with phones and flags only fuels a fire that is difficult to extinguish.
A state that hires goons betrays its own responsibility to safeguard the public.
Kenya’s youth have demonstrated that they can organise peacefully and demand change, but if the government infiltrates agents of chaos into protests, it threatens to turn hope into terror.
Gen Zs must remain on their guard, keep the movement compact and transparent.
To the powers that be, remove any hidden backing for street thugs and confront your critics with words, not deceit. Only then can Kenya’s protests continue to be a force for change rather than a platform for anarchy.
The writer is a Lawyer and a Human Rights Advocate