Kenya’s deadly Gen-Z protests could change the country

Yet far from provoking fear among Kenya’s better-off, the unrest has inspired wild optimism. Unlike most protests in recent decades, these are led by young, eloquent, educated Kenyans who are unsullied by political or tribal allegiance. Their cause—an end to corruption, injustice and inequality—seems noble rather than tawdry. Instead of championing a self-serving political leader or faction, they have denounced the entire political class. These protests have consequently united rather than polarised people. Perhaps the only parallel that can be drawn is with the protests led by the present lot’s parents, who also braved police bullets in 1990 to demand, successfully, an end to dictatorship and the restoration of multiparty elections.