10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

The increasing role of social media activism among Kenyan youths continues to pile pressure on government to be more open. While protests, especially by the opposition parties are not new, this study sought to describe the nature of anti-Finance Bill Gen-Z youth-led protests, organization and the messaging and the government response to one of Kenya’s massive protests. Based on an online survey tool and adopting a qualitative approach, the study was guided by the pragmatic paradigm, and data was thematically analysed based on emerging themes. The study sought to explore the following three research questions: (i)How different was the Gen Z youths’ anti-Finance Bill protest of mid-2024 from previous protests? (ii)How did protesters’ framing of issues contribute to massive collective action? and (iii)How did government respond to massive Gen Z protests? The findings demonstrated that unlike previous protests organized by mostly opposition parties, the anti-Finance Bill protests were youth-led, organized and mobilized online by thousands of youths, making the protests ‘leaderless’ and almost “faceless” as the youths referred to them. On messaging and framing of issues, the study established that Gen-Z led protests raised issues that were resonating with the wider public, with cost of living, tax injustice and youth unemployment toping the grievance list. Regarding government response to the protests, while the Bill was dropped, many respondents decried the heavy handedness by security agencies who violently quelled the protests. The paper concludes that while the Gen-Z protests may have helped assert citizen agency and participation in key decision-making such as taxes, it failed to institutionalize these demands, leaving a lacuna for the gains made to be eroded.