Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has insisted that June 25, 2025, will be a public holiday to honour the young Kenyans who lost their lives during the 2024 anti-government protests, despite the opposition from the government.
Taking to his official X account on the evening of Sunday, June 15, 2025, Kalonzo has called upon citizens to observe the day through various commemorative activities.
Kalonzo urged Kenyans to carry a rose and a candle during the commemoration, explaining that participants would lay flowers along Parliament Road and light candles in memory of the fallen heroes.
He emphasised the importance of observing the day and highlighted the sacrifices the youth made in their fight against economic injustice.
“June 25th will be a public holiday – a solemn day to honour our fallen Gen Z heroes. We shall lay flowers along Parliament Road, light candles, and remember them with the dignity they deserve,” Kalonzo stated.
“We urge all Kenyans to honour our children and come with a rose and a candle. Their blood and sacrifice must not go in vain.”
He declared that he would never work with President William Ruto’s regime and warned that no one should be misled by those peddling falsehoods and attempting to use his name to sanitise injustice.
“I want to make it clear: I will never work with this blood-based regime. Let no one be misled by those peddling falsehoods and attempting to use my name to sanitise injustice,” he added.
June 25th
Kalonzo’s confirmation comes days after he declared June 25th a national holiday to honour youthful Kenyans who lost their lives and were maimed in their clamour for good governance.
Speaking in Machakos while in the company of key opposition figures in the country on Friday, May 30, 2025, Kalonzo decried government inaction in compensating families who lost their kin during the anti-Finance bill demos in 2024.
“We shall be marking June 25, 2025, as a Gen Z revolution day. This will be a holiday for all Kenyans to celebrate the new liberation championed by the Gen Zs,” Kalonzo said.
“Therefore, I want to state here that June 25 will forever be a national holiday for the children of this nation. We have to respect the youth of this country who lost their lives, yet their parents have yet to receive compensation from the government,” he added.
Govt’s opposition
Speaking during an interview on Tuesday night, June 10, 2025, the government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, confirmed that June 25 will not be a public holiday, despite the call from opposition leaders.
“We have heard people say June 25 will be a public holiday. There is no public holiday on June 25. It is a working day if it falls on a weekday,” Mwaura said.
“Whatever people are trying to do is to recreate the Gen Z movement. We want to tell them that that is a thing of the past. We must move forward.”
