Voices for Change — From Obstructed to Repressed: The Kenyan New Normal
Written by: Michelle Mwelesa
June 25, 2024, is a date that will forever be etched in the memory of Kenya. Why? Parliament was occupied.
In the heart of Nairobi, the nation’s capital once dubbed the “city under the sun,” a haunting silence lingers around Parliament Road. It is the kind of silence born not of peace, but of unspoken grief. For on that very stretch of tarmac, blood was spilled. Not by criminals, not by rebels, but by the very forces sworn to protect and serve Kenyan citizens.
The sound of gunshots, screams and chants filled the air as Kenyans forged on, marching to occupy the People’s House. Why, one would ask? One young lad said that he is protesting because there is nothing left for him to do. Another young woman said she is marching because the State is stealing her future away from her through high taxation, corruption and bad governance.
This moment was hugely monumental to Kenyans because for a brief moment, Kenyans felt like they took their power back; the power given to us through Article 1 of our beloved Constitution. Defiant and fearless, the Gen Z movement redefined citizen participation and engagement in Kenya.
What Met Them Was Not Dialogue, But Bullets
On this fateful day as Members of Parliament debated the controversial Finance Bill of 2024, thousands of youths took to the streets in a historic civic action dubbed #OccupyParliament. Unarmed, mostly youthful, and armed with nothing but placards, voices, and hope, they stood against a system they felt had failed them. What met them was not dialogue, but bullets.
The #OccupyParliament protests tore through the veil of silence and apathy to reveal what many Kenyans have known all too well: that in the shadows of our democracy, state sanctioned violence still stalks citizens. A chilling truth already known to Kenyans was revealed yet again — law enforcement responding with excessive, disproportionate, and lethal force.
Several lives were lost. Shot in cold blood. Their names now echo in memorials and chants: symbols of resistance, but also painful reminders of what happens when the law becomes a weapon rather than a shield.
Repression Beyond the Streets
The series of protests in 2024 and 2025 uncovered a pattern. It presented a country where accountability is evasive, where state power is abused, and where justice for victims remains a distant dream. Behind every tear shed by a parent, every candle lit in vigil lies a larger question: How did we get here? How did we become a nation where dissent is met with violence and death?
Chapter four of Kenya’s Constitution promises of human civil and political rights and dignity now feels like a betrayed pact. Article 37 guarantees every citizen the right to assemble, demonstrate, and picket peacefully. Yet this sacred right is increasingly met with brutality and State repression – each bullet a violation of not just bodies, but of the Constitution itself. The tragedy lies not just in the deaths, but in the normalisation of state violence.
Outside of the violent streets, the State continued its quest of killing dissent and accountability through repressive laws. In the wake of the 2024-2025 protests, several repressive laws were proposed in Parliament. The Assembly and Demonstrations Bill was keen to ensure that protests in Kenya become an impossible endeavor by proposing frivolous requirements and rules. The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill was intent to constrict the digital space and kill political dissent online. These laws have, however, been withdrawn upon public reprisal and with the intervention of the Civil Society and Judiciary.
Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders Under Attack
Civil society and human rights defenders (HRDs) have also been victims of State repression. Historically, Kenya has been the safe haven for human rights defenders, refugees and asylum seekers in the region. However, in the recent past, trans-national abductions and HRD deportations, including international staff for civil society organisations, have shown that tides are changing for the worst.
But the Gen Z movement redefined citizen engagement in Kenya. It challenged State repression and questioned bad governance in a different way. The youth not only protested in the streets but on online platforms too. The use of social media as a civic engagement tool had never been used in such magnitude in Kenya before. This reminded us that protests have truly diversified in the new digital age.
Hope and Resistance for Civil Liberties
Despite the downgrade of Kenya’s civic space rating by CIVICUS from obstructed to repressed in 2024, and remained unchanged in 2025, Kenya continues to be regarded as a democratic role model in the region. With an independent Judiciary and a resilient citizenry, Kenya enjoys a relatively tolerant civic and democratic space compared to our neighbors in the East African region. A relatively free media and an open digital space, breeds informed citizenry aware of their constitutional rights and, like it has been said, knowledge is power.
With an olive branch extended by the State through compensation of protest victims and a judiciary that refuses to take part in legislative repression, Kenyans remain hopeful that one day we will be free and live in the spirit and letter of our progressive Constitution.
This blog was written by Michelle Mwelesa, human rights lawyer and defender, who works for KIOS grantee Civic Freedoms Forum as an Advocacy Officer. The blog is first in the series Voices for Change, amplifying the voices of human rights defenders from the Global South.
Michelle will be also speaking at the World Village festival on Sunday 17th of May 5:45 PM-6:10 PM. Read more of the program. ( link opens in a new tab)