NAIROBI — Demonstrations are scheduled to take place in Kenya on Thursday, June 25, 2026, to commemorate the second anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z protests. The Kenyan government has ordered a heavy police deployment ahead of these demonstrations.

The 2024 Gen Z protests in Kenya were initially triggered by opposition to a finance bill aimed at raising $2.7 billion in new tax revenue. Protesters stormed the Kenyan parliament and burned part of the building on June 25, 2024, after politicians passed the finance bill, and more than 120 people were killed during the protest movement that began that year. President William Ruto returned the 2024 finance bill to parliament for further amendments following the protests. More than 60 people were killed and over 500 were injured during a government crackdown on protests commemorating the first anniversary in June 2025.

President Ruto introduced the Finance Act, 2026, describing it as a pro-growth, investment-friendly law. At a state event in Nairobi on June 19, 2026, President Ruto called opposition to the Finance Act, 2026, "propaganda." "The one thing that is not going to happen is that people will be mobilised to destroy property or to cause chaos or mayhem. That will not happen. Children will go to school because it's their right to go to school. Workers will go to work because that's how we raise the productivity of our nation," President Ruto said.

Siaya County Governor James Orengo called on Kenyans to participate in remembrance services, including vigils across the country and a march to government buildings in Nairobi. "To those who cannot join the march, stand in solid solidarity by staying at home … let the silence of our empty streets be a roaring testament against tyranny. We will not forget, and we will not back down. See you on June 25th!" Orengo wrote on X.

On June 21, 2026, victims of protest crackdowns and families of those killed by police gathered at the Nairobi Baptist Church. Rex Masai, 29, was among the first to be killed in the June 2024 protests. In 2025, blogger Albert Ojwang died in police custody, reigniting public anger over police brutality and government accountability.

Only three cases from the 2024 protest deaths and one from 2025 have come to court, and no officer has been convicted in connection to these deaths. President Ruto announced a fund of nearly $15 million to compensate 1,100 people affected by violent protests between 2017 and 2025. Gillian Munyao, speaking at a Nairobi court, questioned the compensation. "He's covering up the wrongs that he did. He just wants us to shut up because of the cash that he's giving us – the peanuts. I'm not seeing justice anywhere … why pay us without giving the culprit?" Munyao said. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch noted that dozens of government critics were abducted in 2024 and 2025.