Kenya Gen Z protests see press freedom under fire
The fog of tear gas has lifted following the nationwide anti-government protests in Kenya on Wednesday.
The shocking aftermath: 19 demonstrators dead and at least 500 injured, all by gunfire, according to Amnesty International.
Local journalists reported that police used not only tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters, but also live ammunition in many cases.
There was also reportedly violence from individual demonstrators, with stores looted in the capital, Nairobi, and beyond.
The planned day of protest marked the first anniversary since people stormed parliament during anti-government demonstrations in 2024, when 60 people were killed.
READ | Kenya protests: 16 dead as government denounces 'terrorism disguised as dissent'
The tough response by security forces and an emergency order by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) banning live coverage of the protests has heightened concerns about freedom of expression in the country.
While judges immediately revoked the order, which referenced a section of the constitution that exempts incitement to violence from freedom of expression, the attempt has nonetheless been damaging.
Youth at odds with government
Muthoki Mumo, who monitors the situation in sub-Saharan Africa from Nairobi for the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, believes the CA has been used as a political weapon.
'We can say from historical context, this government has not taken dissent well, has not responded well to the criticism in the form of thousands of young people who've taken to the streets at various points over the last year. And I see this order fitting into that,' she told DW.
The CA issued a similar order in 2018 under President William Ruto's predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta. It was only in November 2024 that the High Court unequivocally clarified that the CA has no authority to prevent live reporting.
Meanwhile, young people have become increasingly estranged from the government as confrontations mount. The majority of the protesters are from Generation Z, born in the late 1990s to early 2010s.
The first major Gen Z protests last summer were initially directed against a planned tax law. But the focus quickly shifted to the economic situation as a whole, lack of equal opportunities and dissatisfaction with Ruto, who won the 2022 election with promises of social reform but failed to reduce financial burdens for most families.
Censorship and violence against journalists
'To switch off the media simply because they are reporting what people are saying in the streets is almost attempting to cover up the real sense of outrage that there is in the country,' Irungu Houghton, director of Amnesty International's Kenya division, told DW.
Information from live broadcasts is important for coordinating the deployment of emergency paramedics, or for civilians trying to avoid possible escalations, he added.
Journalists and bloggers are also exposed to this risk.
In recent months, Mumo has repeatedly heard about cases in which security forces attacked journalists like Catherine Wanjeri, who was hit with rubber bullets during protests in the central city of Nakuru - despite being clearly recognisable as a member of the press.
I'm very sceptical of any narrative that suggests that ... we see our people just simply being caught in crossfire.
Muthoki Mumo
'Time and time again, [we have seen] evidence of journalists being clearly identifiable and targeted with violence nonetheless. Secondly, even if we were to say these journalists were sort of caught in the crossfire, it means that there was a civilian being targeted,' she added.
'That still points to a culture of violence, the culture of impunity.'
Activists also at risk
The situation for press isn't the only one that has deteriorated significantly, said Amnesty's Houghton.
'The other concern has been how this has begun to shift to individuals who are on social media platforms. And so, you will have somebody with 30 000 or 40 000 followers targeted purely because they made a comment about a powerful person or a project, or they called for a demonstration as it was the case on Wednesday,' he said.
'For a long time, I have observed in Kenya specifically that when the state comes after dissent, it doesn't start at the oldest or most established media house, where the veteran journalists who have the great degrees are operating,' said Mumo.
'It starts at the margins. It starts with someone who posted on a blog that they started recently. It starts where someone posted on X or Facebook or TikTok.'
An incident that has reignited the Gen Z protests in recent weeks fits this pattern.
Anti-corruption activist and blogger Albert Ojwang died earlier this month in police custody after accusing a senior police officer of corruption on the social network X.
An initial press release suggested Ojwang's fatal injuries were self-inflicted. But in the meantime, three police officers are set to stand trial for murder.
Rose Njeri also found herself in police custody without legal representation in early June. The software developer had created a tool for users to lodge objections to Ruto's tax law online. She was accused of violating a 2018 law against cybercrime and computer misuse.
Both Mumo and Houghton described the law as a political 'weapon' against unwelcome voices in civil society.
Government calls protests 'attempted coup'
Gen Z outrage over the treatment of people like Wanjeri, Ojwang and Njeri has triggered fresh demonstrations.
Kenya has had a relatively modern constitution with far-reaching civil liberties since 2010, and these often well-educated young adults know it well enough to invoke their basic rights.
'I came out here because first, I'm a Kenyan, and being here on the streets is exercising my right. And standing against this regime that is tyrannical,' one demonstrator told DW on Wednesday.
But in the wake of the protests, the government has shown little sign of making concessions. On Thursday, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen called them a 'coup attempt' by 'criminal anarchists'.
Houghton emphasised that Gen Z is ultimately demanding development and growth opportunities.
'If the government does not see and address that head on, then the protests will continue beyond this point. But the question of course is: If the elections are in 2027, that is still a long way away for a population that has no patience,' he said.
Sella Oneko contributed to this report from Nairobi.
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