The popular Gen Z protests appear to have been temporarily smothered by the inclusion of Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s allies in President William Ruto’s Cabinet.

While the move may have resulted in capitulation to the protesters’ demands, including rejection of the much-maligned Finance Bill, 2024, it has not done enough to address the critical issues facing the nation.

The protests exposed the daunting political and economic challenges confronting Ruto’s administration that threatened to become its Waterloo just a few weeks ago. Yet Gen Z are saying they have unfinished business with the State.

The hurried inclusion of five officials from ODM, the main party in the Azimio la Umoja coalition, in the Cabinet is certainly not enough to constitute a “broad-based government” to act on the full tray of the national agenda.

It does not even meet the threshold of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report negotiated by Azimio and the Kenya Kwanza administration and approved by Parliament, and is in the infant stage of implementation.

Unless the promised “broad-based government” transcends the disgraced Parliament, permanent secretaries and top State appointments, it will not achieve the deeply desired goal of national unity and cohesion.

Beyond political and State appointments, President Ruto’s sugar-coated pill of this “broad-based government” may not be the cure for the litany of woes facing citizens demanding transparency, accountability, good governance and justice.

Gen Z protests were met with brutal police force that saw dozens shot dead, abductions and disappearances by suspected State agents that have left a trail of bitterness and unanswered questions.

Indeed, one of the stated agreements in the Raila-Ruto “rescue deal” was that justice would be served for the victims of these injustices during the peaceful protests.

However, no one has so far been prosecuted for these gross violations of human and constitutional rights. Instead what has been witnessed is impunity from those responsible for answering these questions, with blatant defiance of court orders.

The first task the public expects from the government through the Attorney-General and a seemingly toothless Director of Public Prosecutions is action and administration of justice for victims of the violent suppression of the protests.

The government must independently let the people exercise their sovereign rights under the Constitution and together with civil society and faith-based organisations initiate a national dialogue to address the pertinent issues raised by Gen Z protests.

The full tray of the national agenda crystalised in the NADCO report failed to tackle the main cause of the protests – the high cost of living, in addition to electoral reforms, unemployment, corruption and impunity.

Gen Zs are the youth who constitute 75 per cent of Kenya’s population. Yet the economy has not created enough jobs and opportunities for the growing population of youth, including university graduates.

Add rising levels of poverty and inequalities to angry disillusioned youth who will not agree to pay more taxes to salvage a collapsing economy and raise revenue amid daily reports of rampant corruption and misuse of public resources by the political elite.

They are part of citizens in the national agenda saying they cannot be asked to sacrifice to “fund” sleaze and extravagance among a cabal of sacred cows. The State beware.

It’s a ticking time bomb and Gen Zs have vowed to strategise and return with even more powerful protests than those they staged in July that rocked the nation.

— The writer comments on national affairs-