The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has come out strongly to disown a viral post that claimed party leader Raila Odinga had urged Gen Z demonstrators to suspend their planned protests and remain at home.
In the now-flagged graphic that surfaced online on Monday, June 16, 2025, Mr Odinga was depicted allegedly appealing to the youth to refrain from taking to the streets in honour of the late blogger Albert Ojwang, with the statement framed as an official plea from the former Prime Minister.
“Let us allow the authorities to investigate and reveal what truly happened. I urge Gen Z to refrain from the protests being planned today and to remain at home,” the flagged post read.
The post further quoted Raila as saying that President William Ruto had assured him that justice would be served and compensation delivered to the family of the late Ojwang, as well as urging young people not to be misled by those exploiting the tragedy for political gain.
“I have spoken to His Excellency President William Ruto, and he has assured me that Albert Ojwang’s family will receive adequate compensation. He has also promised a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of this matter and ensure justice is served,” the post had further claimed.
However, the ODM party took to its official social media platforms and dismissed the post in its entirety, branding it as fake by superimposing a bold red “FAKE” stamp across the graphic, which bore Raila’s photo and what appeared to be a typed message attributed to him.
While the ODM party did not immediately confirm whether it would pursue further legal or digital tracing of the originators of the misleading graphic, the tone of their rebuttal left no doubt that the party was distancing itself from any perceived attempts to pacify or neutralise the mounting anger amongst Kenya’s Gen Z generation.
Protests
The said protests have been scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in honour of Albert Ojwang and the hundreds of youthful Kenyans who lost their lives or were maimed in their clamour for just governance.
They were called for by Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Friday, May 30, 2025, who stated that the day ought to be gazetted as a national holiday.
In a bold declaration in Machakos while in the company of key opposition figures in the country, 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.
