Roots Party’s former presidential running mate, Justina Wamae, has spoken out against the ongoing blame game surrounding the Gen Z protests.
Gen Zs recently organised a memorial demonstration held in honour of young people killed during anti-government protests in June 2024 triggering blame games from different quarters.
In a statement shared on Saturday, June 28, 2025, Wamae criticised the tendency by government allies to shift blame to various groups, including religious leaders, members of the diplomatic community, and the opposition.
She dismissed these accusations as ineffective and pointed out that numerous videos circulating on social media needed proper scrutiny before conclusions were made.
“This blames some religious leaders, some diplomatic community, and some opposition for fuelling protests. It is not working. Several clips are circulating via social media that need total scrutiny,” Wamae declared.
Her remarks come amid rising political tension, with President William Ruto’s allies accusing opposition figures, particularly impeached former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, of sponsoring and inciting unrest through the Gen Z movement.
The protests, which began in early June 2025, have mobilised thousands of young Kenyans who are angry about poor governance, police brutality, and the high cost of living. At least 19 people have been confirmed dead.
Key Ruto allies such as Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed have pointed fingers at Gachagua, accusing him of funding the protests and attempting to destabilise the government through what they describe as a civilian coup.
Gachagua on funding goons
In response, Gachagua has denied the accusations and challenged the government to provide evidence.
Speaking on Friday, June 27, during a TV interview, he dismissed the claims as baseless and questioned why, if the government had intelligence that he was sponsoring goons, no action was taken.
He argued that if the so-called goons were truly linked to him, they would have already been arrested or even killed. Gachagua wondered how, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen reportedly walking the streets of Nairobi that morning, the government could still claim there had been an attempted coup.
“I don’t know how fragile this government is. That a CS Interior is walking in the streets of Nairobi in the morning, and you are saying that was an attempted coup. If they had intelligence that goons were being paid by Rigathi Gachagua or anyone else, why did they not arrest these goons?” he said.
He added that the government had failed to act on intelligence if it truly believed he was behind the chaos. Gachagua questioned how unarmed gangs managed to take over police stations without intervention.
“If they were my goons today, they would have been shot dead or in custody. Why, if they had intelligence that Gachagua or anyone else had paid goons to come and cause mayhem in Nairobi, why didn’t they act on that intelligence? How did they allow goons to go to a police station unarmed and take over our police stations?” Gachagua said.
He said this demonstrated a failure in leadership and security response.
Further defending himself, Gachagua said that the looting that occurred in Nairobi happened under suspicious circumstances. He claimed that the destruction started after 6:00 pm. and was carried out in areas like Nyamakima, River Road, Taveta Road, and Luthuli Avenue.
According to him, the violence and theft were done in the dark under the watch of the police. He asked why these gangs were not stopped or shot by the authorities, suggesting that the chaos may have been staged or deliberately ignored by security forces.
“I think the CS Interior must respect the people of Kenya. It is evident that in Nairobi, the real goons came after 6:00 pm, and downtown Nairobi, in Nyamakima, River Road, Taveta Road, and Luthuli Avenue, the havoc and looting were done in darkness under the supervision of the police. Why were these gangs not shot?” Gachagua questioned.
