President William Ruto on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, gave a half-hearted apology to young brave Kenyans who feel alienated by his administration.

The deadly Gen Z protests nearly led to the collapse of his government last year, with some young people storming Parliament.

The youths, carrying the flag of a country they were brought up to love, were demanding good governance from a regime they felt was determined to rob them of their future.

They were demanding fiscal discipline, access to education funding, low taxation and inclusion in decision-making.

The protesters speaking truth to power were met with police bullets, and some disappeared or were abducted by State agents.

It took the intervention of an American preacher for Ruto to face his Damascus moment.

We agree with Rickey Bolden that frustrated young Kenyans are demanding respect, love and a place at the table for their voices to be heard.

They poured into the streets because their government was not listening to them.

Instead of empathy, condescending government officials demanded blind obedience, conformity and respect for authority. Gen Z resented the talk-down attitude in government that came with reminders that they were not adults and, therefore, their voices didn’t matter.

But as Bolden told Kenyan politicians, the Gen Z “were adults dying for respect and a place at the table for their voices to be heard”.

Anyone who cares to listen would know that Gen Z detests the conventional behaviour of older generations revolving around hierarchies, authority and obsolete processes that don’t respond to present-day life challenges.

They see the current governing elite as architects of the challenges they face, including unemployment, corruption, lack of access to vital government services, education funding, a punitive tax regime and bad regulation practices that stand in the way of innovation and decent incomes.

While the President may have been remorseful, his deputy, Kithure Kindiki, sounded still entrenched in old patriarchal attitudes.

According to the man who was in charge of the police during the protests, “Children must respect authority and older people because they have learnt things from the college of life”. This is the language of a colonial administrator.

Clearly, Kindiki was not listening to the good preacher.