Persistent Gen Z headache for Ruto as 2027 draws near

The recent spate of abductions targeting social media influencers and the youth has fuelled speculation as to whether the devious tactics that seem to have won the support of those within government could be part of President William Ruto’s strategy to contain the GenZ youth.

Opinion is divided over whether the hard tackle would succeed in containing the group, mainly comprising a segment of the population that is restless and youthful, that is marked by both pragmatism and innovation, championing for good governance and better socio-economic environment.

Three years after ascending to power, Ruto’s administration is being accused of steering the country on a bleak political landscape, a move that will greatly influence the voting patterns during the fast-approaching 2027 general elections.

Observers believe that after winning back former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta ahead of 2027, President Ruto’s main headache has been containing the Gen Z who almost toppled his government last year July.

“The question of Gen Zs has caused the President sleepless nights and will continue to do so until a strategy is found. At the moment, the President seems desperate on how to win back the support of the segment of voters whose numbers is likely to determine the outcome of 2027,” says Dr Martin Oloo, a lecturer in political science at the University of Nairobi.

For the last two years, President Ruto focused on introducing new programmes in key sectors including health, education and agriculture, which degenerated into political warfare after the public started resisting them. The new year began at the height of shifting alliances and an evolving power play, as Ruto moved in to quell rising political temperatures that threatened to dismantle his administration.

Though President Ruto may have succeeded in defragmenting the opposition after the formation of the broad-based government, the youth now being referred to as Gen-Z have emerged as a formidable force that can marshal a revolt that would easily deny Ruto a second term in office.

Surprisingly, during his campaign rallies for the 2022 presidential elections, Ruto was fond of using language laced with enticing words so that the youth would identify him as one of them.

During the campaigns, Ruto convinced the youth whom he popularly referenced as hustlers to believe that their economic woes and low standard of life were due to the election of rich people he referred to as dynasties.

Distressed hustlers

Ruto fashioned himself as the saviour of economically distressed hustlers promising them that his government would hold their best interest at heart if they elected him. He warned them that dynasties, a term he used to sneer at Opposition leader Raila Odinga who former President Uhuru had endorsed as his preferred successor would only exploit them more.

Eventually, Ruto won the 2022 presidential elections, albeit with a small margin over Raila but with each passing day, the hustlers whom he endeared to and pocketed the majority of their votes have turned out to be his greatest critics.

Hell broke loose, mid-last year when Ruto who controls the majority of MPs in Parliament attempted to introduce a raft of taxes to Kenyans who are struggling with high cost of living through the defunct 2024 Finance Bill.

Deadly protests organized by the Gen-Z erupted on June 25 when the National Assembly sat to pass the legislation even after the public expressed displeasure over the bill during the public participation process carried out by Finance and National Planning.

Since then, Ruto and the public have been walking on separate paths with the majority of his supporters now turning out to be his opponents. The youth have mounted a fierce anti-Ruto campaign on social media platforms, drawing caricatures, creating AI-generated photos to critic prominent politicians and regularly making hashtags to criticize the government.

Whereas President William Ruto has managed to contain his political opponents by giving them government positions, he appears to have been outwitted by the defiant, tech-savvy youth who are giving him sleepless nights.

Ruto’s administration now has trained its guns on social media ‘ring leaders’ who are driving campaigns against its governance style in what appears to be a well-choreographed scheme to silence the invisible enemy on the internet.

According to Machakos Deputy Governor, Gen Z is unlike any previous generation in Kenya’s political history.

“They are hyper-connected, informed, and opinionated, often engaging in public discourse via social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Their concerns go beyond the traditional issues of unemployment and poverty; they are also deeply invested in social justice, environmental sustainability, and equality,” he says.

He says Gen Z’s activism and demand for transparency often create tension with the political establishment, which is seen by many as corrupt and out of touch.

“This poses a significant challenge for Ruto, whose administration, like many others, is accused of being slow to adapt to the changing times. But the strategy to use threats, intimidations, abductions and extrajudicial killings to contain them will not succeed,” he says.

The more the youngsters are abducted , tortured and maimed, the more hardened and courageous they become, according to Mwangangi. The deputy governor says the end result is making the government more unpopular and viewed as a “terrorist regime.

Obviously shortsighted

Like Mwangangi, Prof Macharia Munene says President Ruto and his advisors need to rethink their strategy on dealing with the restless youth through abductions “if that is the strategy they have decided to use to contain them.”

“It is obviously a reality that the Gen Zs have shaken the very core of this government , but the decision to deal with them through abductions is wishful thinking. The strategy may only work in the short term as the youth’s network is widespread,” says Prof Macharia.

He warned that the abductions are likely to generate dissent among the Gen Zs and eventually make them hate the government with a passion. “Whoever is responsible for this crackdown is obviously shortsighted. You may succeed by eliminating one or two persons, but you cannot succeed by eliminating thousands. Already the discontent is causing far reaching negative impact.”

In December four male youth were abducted in a similar manner and the same period by people believed to have been policemen and their disappearances were attributed to generating and sharing unpalatable content about the government that they shared on their social media platforms.

After public uproar over abductions, President Ruto during his tour in the Nyanza region towards the end of December promised to end abductions but implored parents to restrain the behaviour of their children. “…on abduction matters, we are going to stop, so that the Kenyan youth can continue to live peacefully. However, they need to be disciplined so that we can develop this nation together,” Ruto said.

True to his word, the four abducted youth including cartoonist Kibet Bull, Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Ronny Kiplang’at and Bernard Kavuli were released by their yet-to-be-identified kidnappers at various locations on the early morning of Monday this week.

It was highly speculated that the government ordered their release to counter an impending protest that had been mobilized online to push the government to set them free.

In what appears to be a moment of torture to intimidate them from criticising the government by their kidnappers, the fear-stricken youth have maintained a low profile where only Kibet and Mwangi have mustered the courage to speak to the public.

Distraught parents

Mwangi, 24 said he had forgiven those who had abducted them and would not hold any grudges against them even after subjecting him to the horrific ordeal that also left his parents in distraught.

He added that he was no longer on social media and that he was not in control of his X account as it had been hacked after he was abducted.

Similarly, satirist Kibet who is also adamant about revealing his experience in the hands of his abductors said he would scale down his online activities.  “I cannot talk about it now, but after what I have gone through, I have to minimise the activity on social media,” he said.

Apart from abductions, Ruto appears to have hired some of the vocal bloggers who were also his full-time critics and majority of whom formed the communication team of Opposition leader Raila Odinga.