There are many who wonder 'what will happen next' in Kenya.
Never before has there been such a widespread and varied interest in what is considered one of the main 'hubs' of the African continent and a valid interlocutor for new development policies.

Kenya has a flattering growth indicator, as yet unexpressed potential in agriculture and the subsoil, a young workforce to be specialised and involved in industry and technology, and opportunities to develop forms of partnership on the environment and in the sphere of cooperation (Italy knows something about this, considering it a cornerstone for its 'Mattei Plan for Africa'). In addition, let us not forget, it has the charm of its territory that attracts tens of thousands of international tourists. But, as is often the case with countries with great potential that want to emerge and align themselves with the great global system, it also has an exponential public debt (around 82 billion dollars) equally divided between domestic and foreign creditors (with China in the lead, which accounts for a quarter of the figure and is pressing for repayment on a regular basis).
This is why the international spotlight is all on the protests of the so-called 'Gen Z', i.e. those born between 1997 and 2012.
The over-35s in the country represent 80% of the population. Of course, they do not all take to the streets, they are not all graduates, and they are not as digitally literate as those who animated the two days of demonstrations in Nairobi, nor are they all desperate to take advantage of peaceful and legitimate protests to loot shops, destroy private property, and engage in battles with the police and the bona fide protesters themselves.
 

Some have spoken of 'infiltrated henchmen' in the pay of politicians who have every interest in discrediting this movement, but by now social networks and youth information gurus, bloggers and digital content creators, miss nothing.
For sure, Gen Z is more educated and informed than their parents, they are more inclined than them to mix and overcome the ancient barriers of tribes and the more recent ones of political ideology.
Despite this, many of them do not have steady jobs. Economic growth has not kept pace, nor has it outpaced the growth of the population ready to enter the labour market, resulting in limited employment opportunities.
Many are left to rely on inventiveness, creativity, and an approach to the informal economy.

The state has examined this phenomenon and has tried, with this financial bill, to secure them in the tax system, with the proposal of taxes on digital content, on transactions via Mpesa, on the obligation of receipts also for those who do not bring home fixed and substantial earnings.
At the same time, however, young people see the political and economic class not losing an iota of its benefits and the government doing nothing to curb corruption, which, according to 2022 estimates, burns $6 billion a year in Kenya, almost double what (3.7) the new budget would propose to raise. With an annual growth rate of between 5 and 6 per cent, it is even more absurd that the country is in such turmoil.
 

This explains the main reasons for the protests, to which the government and its security apparatus, it must be admitted, have responded in an absurd, totally inadequate and out-of-control manner: killings of demonstrators (officially there are 31, but the count will rise), preventive arrests and torture, in a manner not seen since the days of the Moi presidency in the 1980s and 1990s, which they not surprisingly called 'regime'.
President William Ruto, after an initial reaction in which he branded the perpetrators of the assault on parliament as 'criminals', declared in public the following day that he would withdraw the disputed law and find replacement measures to avoid economic default.
This week will be crucial to begin to understand what these measures will be, even if in a communiqué he himself drafted, it is understood that all state expenditures defined as 'unnecessary' will be cut, and it is feared, as in the past, in delays in the payment of public salaries, cuts to the counties, and problems for the already shaky social services.

In the meantime, the young people are not waiting, but have declared their intention to return to the streets, also to reiterate that the methods used by the police, which have brought bloodshed and fear, must be stopped. On this issue, the position of the bar association and also that of the High Court is firm. The police have been banned from using tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets on peaceful demonstrators, even though the army was allowed to join in during demonstrations, after an initial order to the contrary. All it would take is a system to isolate the thugs who have infiltrated the 'Kenyan Spring', whether someone actually acquits them, or they take the excuse of anti-government protests that are finally apolitical and non-tribal, to raid and undermine the traders who, sadly ironically, are already increasingly harassed by the tax system.


This week, Gen Z has planned more agitations, always peaceful, in which street walks should be replaced by peaceful 'sit-ins'. All to occupy public land, so that the word 'public' will once again represent everyone, especially politics.
The call is always for the resignation of the president and the refusal of dialogue. Although sooner or later a confrontation will inevitably have to take place, after Gen Z has identified (which is not easy, but young people are capable of surprising even in this respect) its leaders.
It is also necessary to improve communication so that citizens fully understand the reality of the country's fiscal situation and debt.
Young people are right to protest. But the solution is certainly more difficult than the grievances. It requires patience, on their part and on the part of the government. The government has outlined the procedure for the formation of a 100-member national steering committee that will lead conversations with Kenyan youth on issues of governance and accountability in the wake of the protests against the finance bill. The committee will include representatives from youth, civil society, religious organisations, professional bodies, business community organisations, academia and student leadership, as well as members nominated by majority and minority in Parliament and the Board of Governors. So explained the head of the Public Service, Felix Koskei. 
But above all, Kenyans are waiting for the implementation of Ruto's economic proposals after the withdrawal of the finance bill, that could be the new beginning for them to discuss.

(photo: X ex-Twitter)