Kenya’s Gen Z movement has captured the attention of the nation, neighbouring countries, and the globe. This gallant generation of young Kenyans – graduates from middle-level colleges and universities – has emerged as an inexorable and formidable wave whose agitation for accountability and good governance from national and county governments cannot be belittled. 

The government must address the myriad issues raised by Gen Z through dialogue without further delay, lest things spiral out of control and pave the way for anarchy. Efforts to avert a more complicated crisis require a dialogical approach.

Gen Z professionals should be involved in finance and accountability discussions regarding budget proposals for both levels of government, national debt management, employment opportunities, abductions and killings, university funding models, and police brutality. These issues must be discussed with sobriety and calmness. 

This essay proposes roundtable, face-to-face discussions between the government and Gen Z. Kenya has enough professionals in conflict management.

Bringing together technocrats in conflict resolution, religious theologians, and professional counsellors can form the best panel to resolve these issues. 

Having interacted with Gen Z in university lecture halls (in my capacity as a lecturer), churches, youth conventions, and advocacy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, it is evident to me that the youth have pertinent issues concerning their lives today and in the future. 

The invocation of Solomonic wisdom is the best gift our leaders can obtain for free.

This is the only friend we need to settle the multitude of challenges with Gen Z. Religious scriptures are full of calls for peaceful coexistence and fear of the deity.

The ‘Isaiah dialogue model’ of ‘Come now, let us reason together’ (Isaiah 1:18) and Solomon’s ‘wisdom that stands at crossroads’ (Proverbs 8:1-2) will be the best referral ideas to form the agenda of this dialogue. Such divine approaches signify God’s presence and willingness to offer reconciliation even in matters deeply ingrained in our young ones’ struggles. 

Since this cohort’s uprising in mid-2024, Kenya is no longer the same politically. The uprising seems increasingly powered to demand a better Kenya where everyone will be important and where transparency in public money management must be laid bare. 

The sooner the government takes the initiative to prepare the table and invite suggested entities to the discussion, Kenyans and the world will witness a more organised and self-powered generation that has nothing to lose but many things to afford and offer their younger siblings.

They fight for the rights of their ‘academic papers’ lying in document folders because they cannot simply present themselves to work in menial casual labour in the housing programme. 

The Gen Z movement represents more than protest. It embodies a generation’s determination to transform Kenya into a nation where merit matters, corruption is defeated, and youth voices shape the future.

The government must recognise this moment as an opportunity for genuine partnership rather than confrontation. Through wisdom-guided dialogue, Kenya can harness this generation’s energy for national transformation. 

The writer is a Didni Project Officer at PROCMURA, an ACK Priest, a theologian, and lecturer