By Ephraim Agbo
It’s hard to write this without a lump in your throat.
Today — June 27, 2025 — Kenya is not okay.
What started as a peaceful remembrance has turned into a national heartbreak, playing out in real-time across our screens, our streets, and our souls. The people are not just protesting anymore — they’re pleading to be heard.
🕯️ “We Remember” Turned Into “We Bleed”
It began with candles. With placards. With tears.
Young people gathered across Kenya — in Nairobi, Kisii, Mombasa, Kikuyu — to mark the one-year anniversary of the deadly anti-tax protests of 2024. They came to honor the lives lost. To say: “We haven’t forgotten.”
But grief quickly turned into chaos.
The recent death of blogger Albert Ojwang — a young voice silenced in police custody — was a wound too fresh, too deep. Many believe he was killed for speaking truth. For being bold. For refusing to keep quiet.
So today, they marched not just for Albert.
They marched for every missing name, every silenced cry, every mother who buried her child with no answers.
🩸 Blood on the Pavement
The numbers are staggering — but behind every number is a name, a family, a story:
- 16 people confirmed dead by rights groups.
- Over 400 injured, many with bullet wounds.
- 100+ arrested, including medics and journalists.
- Some are still missing. Unaccounted for.
These aren’t just numbers. These are classmates. Breadwinners. Best friends. Dreams.
Imagine sending your child to a peaceful march and getting a call from the morgue.
👮🏾 Police or War Zone?
The government didn’t hold back.
- Live bullets.
- Teargas inside hospitals.
- Armed military patrols in civilian neighborhoods.
In some places, like Kikuyu, protestors set buildings ablaze in raw anger. But many were simply kneeling. Chanting. Holding signs that said, “Stop killing us.”
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen didn’t mince words:
He called the protests an attempted coup. He called the youth terrorists.
But tell me — is demanding justice terrorism?
Is mourning Albert a threat to national security?
🎙️ The Gag that Didn’t Work
In the middle of the chaos, the government tried to shut off the cameras.
TV stations were blocked from broadcasting the protests live. But the High Court stepped in, reminding them — and us — that freedom of the press is not optional.
Still, many Kenyans turned to Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp — posting in real-time as bullets flew. The hashtags #JusticeForAlbert, #KenyaProtests, and #RutoMustGo are trending globally.
The truth always finds a way.
🌍 What the World Is Saying
- The United Nations has condemned the killings and called for restraint.
- Human Rights Watch is urging full investigations into every death, every disappearance.
- Amnesty Kenya is demanding accountability — not apologies.
Even the local courts have spoken. But the question is:
Will the people in power listen?
🧭 This Isn’t Just About Taxes Anymore
Let’s be real — the Finance Bill may have sparked the fire, but what’s burning now is decades of frustration.
- Corruption.
- Police brutality.
- Youth unemployment.
- A cost of living that suffocates.
- A generation feeling unheard, unwanted, unseen.
The protesters aren’t asking for handouts.
They’re asking to live without fear. To dream without bullets. To speak without being hunted.
❤️ A Word to Kenya’s Youth
To every young person standing in the streets right now, crying for justice, singing for freedom, refusing to give up:
We see you. We hear you. We believe in you.
You are not thugs. You are not terrorists.
You are the heartbeat of a better Kenya.
And your courage is the story history will remember — not the silence of those in power.
✊🏾 So What Now?
Kenya stands at a crossroads.
One path leads to healing — justice, reform, listening.
The other? More violence. More silence. More funerals.
We pray the country chooses wisely.
Because Kenya is bleeding.
And silence isn’t neutral anymore. It’s complicity.
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