The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has come out guns blazing against President William Ruto’s regime, accusing it of repeating the very same mistakes that triggered the explosive Gen Z-led protests of 2024.
In a post on X shared on Monday, June 23, 2025, KHRC claimed that state oppression, the root cause of last year’s unrest, remains deeply entrenched in the system, warning that the conditions that pushed young Kenyans to the streets have not changed.
KHRC said the government had failed to learn from the wave of resistance that swept across the country, adding that instead of pulling back, the regime has doubled down on heavy-handed tactics that continue to erode public trust and civic freedom.
“The @WilliamsRuto regime failed to understand that it was state oppression that ignited the 2024 Gen Z protests — and that same oppression continues today,” KHRC wrote.
The rights group has now rallied Kenyans to return to the streets on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 declaring the day a national holiday of resistance against police brutality, targeted repression, and injustice.
“Show up on #June25thNationalHoliday as we return to the streets to resist it and demand #Justice4OurMashujaa,” the post added, alongside popular hashtags such as #NeverForgetKE and #FagiaWote.
According to KHRC, the same playbook of state violence, silencing of dissent, and blatant disregard for constitutional freedoms has remained firmly in place since last year’s protests — a move they say is fuelling renewed anger and mobilisation among the youth.
June 2024 protests
The protests that placed Kenya on the global map happened from June 1, 2024, but escalated until the one dubbed the “father of them all”, which took place on June 25, 2024.
The main issue that protesters had been raising was the Finance Bill 2024, which many described as being overloaded with egregious and controversial taxes.
Many youths were injured during the demonstrations, while others lost their lives, and the planned June 25, 2025, protests have been largely framed as a tribute to all those who died in that clamour.
On that, KHRC has also spoken bitterly about how the government has never managed to offer any closure on how the killings happened and even went ahead to demand that Parliament release footage from when the House was stormed on June 25, 2024.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Monday, June 23, 2025, KHRC Communications Lead Ernest Oduor questioned the silence and lack of transparency from parliamentary authorities nearly a year after the incident.
“According to the Human Rights Watch report, about 25 people had been shot in Parliament on the 25th. Bodies were later picked up that night, and where they were dumped is not yet known. Where is the CCTV footage from Parliament on that day?”
The protests, which drew national attention due to their intensity and the response by security forces, were marked by violent clashes, arrests, and reports of enforced disappearances.
Oduor revealed that KHRC and other civil society organisations have made formal attempts to access the CCTV footage from within Parliament to establish the truth about what happened on June 25, 2024.
“Attempts have been made to acquire the footage, but there are claims that CCTVs were malfunctioning on that day,” he noted.
“It’s unacceptable that a national institution of such importance could have its surveillance systems conveniently fail on the very day protesters were allegedly shot.”
