Former State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita has called on Kenya’s political establishment to reassess its approach to youth engagement.
He cautioned that framing or directing the Gen Z movement within conventional political frameworks could overlook a deeper transformation underway.
Looking back at the June 25, 2024 protests, Waita maintained that officials and critics alike had underestimated the importance of the movement.
“When June 25 unfolded, neither the establishment nor the opposition had any inkling of what had taken hold of the nation,” he said.
They still don’t.
He argued the movement must not be filtered through traditional political perspectives or confined to existing partisan lines.
Instead, he portrayed it as a generational wave that is changing the ways people organize, communicate, and shape national discourse.
His comments arrive while the Gen Z movement keeps prompting political introspection about the evolving roles of youth in participation, influence, and accountability.
He warned seasoned politicians against presuming leadership or control over a movement that largely arose outside formal institutions.
“My counsel to all the older cadres who believe they can now steer the Gen Z movement is this,” he declared.
Whether or not the leadership aligns with the movement, Waita insisted the nation’s institutions would ultimately need to adjust to shifting demographic realities.
“Whether we approve or not, our politics, economy, and social frameworks will have to yield to the preferences of the majority generation,” he asserted.
He believes the forthcoming stage of Kenya’s progress will not be governed only by political elites but will increasingly be shaped by a generation holding new expectations for leadership, participation, and influence.
“It will not be determined solely by political elites,” he said.
He employed a technology analogy to illustrate how younger generations differ from earlier political epochs.
“This Gen Z operating system does not run on Gen X or Baby Boomer code,” he noted.
He characterized youth as highly adaptable and less bound by conventional authority structures.
“Their software is agile, constantly rewriting itself to survive hardship, yet ultimately seeks dominance,” he said.
Instead of fighting the change, he urged leaders to carve out space for participation before dissatisfaction escalates.
“Better bring them to the proverbial table early before they remove it entirely,” he said.