The mobilization activities and events that led up to the storming of the National Assembly by disenfranchised Kenyans on June 21, 2024, seemed to have ignited a spark among a multigenerational citizenship that demonstrations can get the job done where words continuously failed.
The politicking and administrative elite in Kenya were caught with their pants down, and almost continuously remain caught like a deer in the headlights since then.
Their response? Police brutality, arrests, alleged abductions and unexpectedly mocking the angered masses. National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah even went as far as dismissing the Gen Z antigovernmental protesters as KFC eating, Uber using protestors- effectively calling them privileged Nairobians.
Kenyan Gen Z had been participating in leaderless demonstrations against the government, sparked off by the passing of the controversial Finance Bill 2024 that would have squeezed the last coin out of Kenyans’ pockets in an already poor economy where the cost of living is in historic highs.
“The many you see protesting in Nairobi with iPhones, they call themselves Gen Z, they come to the demonstrations in Uber, afterwards they go to KFC and eat chicken…they even drink bottled water. They do not understand what lacking electricity means like here in Eldama Ravine,” Mr Ichung’wah told an audience in the anti-Finance Bill 2024 demos aftermath.
However, Gen Z managed to ‘rage’ against the government biweekly and finally ‘beat’ President William Ruto into submission, forcing him to drop the contentious Finance Bill 2024 and have the 2023 Bill continue to be applied. A raft of changes were announced including the dissolution of Cabinet and the later appointment/re-appointment of some Secretaries, the ending of budgets running into billions for the offices of the spouses of the President, Deputy President and the Prime Cabinet Secretary as well as cutting back on non-essential government spending including travel.
With the widespread success of the anti-Finance Bill protests, since then, various protestors from different industries including medical, education, county administration and the jua kali industry, have been calling for demonstrations to agitate for fair wages, good working conditions and accommodating by-laws within counties.
Following Mr Ichung’wah’s uncalled for dismissal of Nairobi protestors as taxi hailing demonstrators, and the numerous demos that continue to mark streets across the country, Nairobi Post now looks into why it is a bad idea for any demonstrator or pedestrian to request for a cab/taxi to go home after a day of participating in running battles on the streets versus anti-riot police:
- Most online hailing taxis are already infamous for having drivers who delay arriving to pick up points so you can imagine how worse it would be for them to hesitate to come and pick you up from an area where protests are rife. By hailing a cab and having to wait, you place yourself at risk in an insecure area where there may still be whispers of protests ongoing. Additionally, if you hadn’t been part of the demos in that area, if police are still patrolling, you may be linked to the demonstrators and arrested in a drag net.
- If you hail a cab and are on your way home from actively participating in the demos, then you bump into a police checkpoint, the taxi driver might give the police your information if you refuse to personally give it to them. After all, your information is already on the taxi hailing app and for fear of being reprimanded, the taxi driver may easily sell you out for his own immediate freedom.
- All taxi hailing apps map out routes for drivers to follow in the event they do not know the location you are heading to. Reliance on this map will limit any escape route you as a demonstrator may need in the event you need to leave fast. All the police have to do is monitor the major roads often highlighted on the GPS maps and set up checkpoints to weed out escaping protestors.
- You may hail a cab, but you do not know who will arrive with the taxi. As protests began in Kenya, there was one notable cab that had a sticker on it, claiming that it was offering free rides to Gen Z protestors. Immediately, claims arose that the vehicle was probably being used by the police or criminal elements with nefarious motives.
At the end of the day, the best means of leaving a demonstration is either taking public transport or blending in with a crowd and leaving highly volatile areas. You can also send for someone you know to pick you up at a previously agreed location or share a ride with as many friends and fellow protestors as possible. After all, there is strength in numbers.
