By surrounding himself with hundreds of security pers0onnel, President Ruto has taken the well-trodden path of dictators protecting themselves from the rage of the masses
By THEDISPATCH.DIGITAL REPORTER
NAIROBI – President William Ruto was on Sunday in unfamiliar territory when he was forced to sneak out of a church to escape confrontation with protesting Gen Z youth. The President, who had attended a church service in Nyahururu, appeared not to have found an effective response to the innovative Gen Z, who have confounded everybody with their zeal, articulation and determination to change the country.
The Nyahururu incident followed a busy weekend, which sources said the President had spent meeting young Kenyans to try and find a way out of the growing restlessness in the country over merciless taxes the Kenya Kwanza government has imposed at the best of the IMF. But he does not seem to have a found a way out as while he insisted that MPs must pass the controversial and contentious Finance Bill 2024, Gen Z youth have planned a week of protests, which they’re calling a “week of rage.”
At the service, it was not the President’s attendance that made the news; it was the hordes of security personnel who had swarmed the church, apparently in response to intelligence that Gen Z would storm the church to shout out the President and any other politicians . Indeed the youth made good their threat and came to the church in their numbers, chanting “Reject Finance Bill” but their efforts to enter the church were thwarted by the security officers who sneaked the President from the venue through a back route. Several MPs who had, as is routine, gone to the church in the hope of being recognised by the President, also had to run for their lives.
Hundreds of security personnel, from the GSU and uncharacteristically the KDF, were deployed in Nyahururu town from as early as Saturday, in preparation f rot he President’s visit.
Can’t Break Gen Z
Part of the reason the government has been unable to break the Gen Z movement and its protests is because the movement has no clear head. The protests seem to be agreed and the youth do not seem to require any motivation or coercion and has seen all kinds of economic classes converge at the protests. Surprisingly, some top officials of the Ruto government have seen heir children join the demonstrations again the government that pays their parents’ fat salaries. For instance, Nairobi Regional Police boss Adamson Bungei’s son was said to have been among the first to be arrested when police clamped down on demonstrators in Nairobi.
The demonstrators, unlike those mobilized by politicians like Opposition leader Raila Odinga, have been peaceful and avoided reacting violently even when provoked. They have also been tribeless – using English and Kiswahili (with Sheng) as their languages of choice. This is unlike previous protests, where youth have been hired or forced to join protests to fight for tribal kingpins or pursue what has been portrayed as their tribe’s quest for power.
There is also a dogged determination, similar to that associated with the protests in Muslim countries that have changed government following mass protests. The determination of the Tahrir Square protestors in Egypt, who forced the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime, can be noticed in the Kenyan protestors too.
Becoming Paranoid
As the protests progress, it is becoming obvious that The Ruto administration has been caught unawares by the tactics adopted by the Gen Z in their protests. While it was easy to profile participants at earlier protests was surprising or newsy about his church attendance was not the even itself but the number of security pers0onnel that had been deployed to cover the event.
Nyahururu church goers were met with unusual scenes of sophisticated security equipment, sniffer dogs and armed personnel who stopped some from entering the venue of worship.
The event was also attended by Deputy President Rigathi Gacagua who could not find his Muse to articulate his tribal agenda of getting more resources for his tribe.
MPs who made their ay to the event had to undergo the embarrassment of filtering in through the common gate, or walking several meters to reach their sitting spaces.
Although Ruto has put on a brace face of being calm, collected, unruffled, understanding and conciliatory to the thousands of youth that have protested his government’s IMF-instructed tax regime, he has appeared forlorn and lonely, and exhibiting paranoia about his security. His robust and confident mannerisms have notably been absent, indicating a man under siege and worried about his power could be sliding away.
The President’s dilemma has been compounded by the fact that the youth movement leading the anti-tax drive has largely been amorphous and does not present any real leadership, appearing to be more of a spontaneous activity driven by frustration.
The Gen Z that have unsettled Ruto is a frustrated lot. The government has not created jobs for them and its tax regimes have been chasing away investors who have relocated industries to other countries.
Jobs could have bene created in the digital space but Gen Z is also unable to access software and training that would enable them to take advantage of the opportunities in the digital space. The government has frozen employment and where public jobs are available, like in the police and military, they are only available to those endowed with money to bribe officials.
Education has also gone out of the reach of many of the youth with university education becoming unaffordable due to the unfair funding model introduced by Ruto.
Meanwhile, Ruto has become a darlin of the West, his oral antics of bending backwards to please the West have no gone down well with many Kenyans. His recent remarks against Russia were dismissed by many as personal, unnecessary and extreme.
Changing Tune and Tact
The boisterous and often dismissive Kenya Kwanza politicians have not found a way of dealing the the Gen Z, or even understanding them. Majority Leader Kamau Ichung’wa late last week condemned the youth as KFC-eating, uber-riding privileged protestors but seems to have found that his condemnation was not resonating well with the public. By Sunday, he had changed to singing their praises, calling them “progressive.”
Also changing tune is Kapseret MP and Ruto pointman Oscar Sudi , who said Gen Z must be listened to.
Bit it is President Ruto who is having amore difficult time. The Gen Z has targeted him specifically and has launched an online drive to unfollow him on social media like X and make him feel the pinch of isolation. Ruto, a gifted politician with a gift of the garb and manipulative reverse psychology, has not found a way into the minds of Gen Z because one of their grievances against him is his propensity to say untruths almost habitually and twisting situations to serve his needs. It will be interesting to see how he handles the Tuesday protests.
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