The Year 2024 is arguably the year that the vibrant magnification of youth-led activism hit a crescendo in Kenya, principally powered by the ready-for-use and easy availability of social media tools that were converted into public barazas for mobilisation.
Kenyans, widely recognised as among the top social media consumers worldwide, elevated the country to a beacon of civic and political activism for the better part of the second half of the year, at the height of which was a historic wave of protests staged in June to express displeasure against government policies.
It all started when the population, majorly composed of members of the Zoomer Generation (Gen Z) peer group, activated sentiments and narratives to revolt against government-backed fiscal proposals that would see taxes on various goods and services increase drastically.
What began as feeble flame would quickly soar into an inferno after government figureheads and their associates cast a dismissive attitude, going to lengths that stretched as far as bordering appended provocation and incitement.
“Politics is a contact sport. Digital activism is just wanking. Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one,” David Ndii, the chairperson of President William Ruto’s council of economic advisers, posted on his official X platform on June 14, in an apparent attempt to downplay the simmering revolt.
But in their characteristic innovative nature, the youthful agitators managed to dodge scrutiny from government authorities by way of tweaking the capabilities of various social platforms, with the net resultant effect giving rise to a surprise mass unrest that threatened to overrun the State establishment.
The youngsters, for instance, discovered a Walkie-talkie-like app named Zello, a free resource that allows smart gadgets including smartphones, tablets and laptops to be linked in a Walkie-talkie style, enabling one to connect to fellow users as well as to a radio channel where large groups can converse regardless of distance.
The US-developed app posted record downloads in Kenya at the height of the June protests, hitting highs of 40,000 between June 17 and June 25, and becoming the third most downloaded mobile application on Apple’s App Store in the country between June 19 and June 24.
Previously, Zello had been historically used in logistics during emergencies and disaster management in several parts of the world, a case in point being during a hurricane disaster in Texas in 2017 where it was used to find and save endangered people.
The anti-tax protests in Kenya also drove the usage of other social media apps to record levels, with data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) showing that internet accessibility levels also surged during the period.
Meta-owned platform Facebook, which is currently the most used social network in the country, crossed the 50 percent mark in usage during the quarter ended June and is now used by more than half of Kenya’s population.
According to the CA, Facebook usage recorded a 2.6 percent rise to 52 percent during the quarter, up from the previous quarter’s 49.5 percent. Other platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, and X also witnessed a surge in usage, potentially arising from their increasingly important roles as information sources during the protest period that went on for weeks on specific days.
WhatsApp usage rose 1.5 percent to 48.5 percent of the population aged 15 and above, while X users increased by 2.1 percent to 12.8 percent of the country’s population.
Usage of video-sharing platform TikTok saw the sharpest usage rise in the period, hitting 28.1 percent from the previous quarter’s 23 percent, representing a five percent jump.
According to Ajra Mohamed, a partnership specialist at women's rights crusader Nguvu Collective, this year’s protests made history with their pioneering use of technology to rally and unite citizens beyond traditional partisan divisions.
“The innovativeness, boldness, and resilience of Kenyan Gen Zs and millennials in activism tactics are noteworthy. Technology and social media played crucial roles in enabling broader participation in political discourse, increasing scrutiny of government actions, and empowering a demographic that challenged traditional power structures,” observes Ms Mohamed.
Even after the fiery public marches subsided, Kenyans have continued to leverage social media capabilities to shine a spotlight on continuing government ills, including championing the release of political abductees as well as calling for justice for those butchered in the streets during the unrest.
