Former State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita has urged Kenya's political establishment to recognise the growing influence of Generation Z, warning that the country's future political, economic and social direction will increasingly be shaped by the youth rather than the traditional political elite.
Reflecting on the events of the June 25, 2024 anti-government protests, Waita said both the government and the opposition were caught off guard by the scale and nature of the Gen Z-led movement, arguing that many leaders still do not fully understand the forces driving it.
"When June 25, 2024 happened, neither the establishment nor the opposition had any clue what had just hit the country. They still don't," Waita said.
The former senior government official cautioned veteran politicians against assuming they could take charge of the movement, describing Gen Z as an independent generation with its own way of organising, communicating and mobilising.
"My advice to all the old folks thinking that they are the newfound managers of the Gen Z movement is this," he said.
"Whether we like it or not, our politics, our economy and our social structures will have to bend to the will of the majority generation."
Waita argued that the emerging generation does not subscribe to the political norms and leadership models that have defined previous generations.
"It won't be shaped by the political elite. This Gen Z operating system doesn't operate on the Gen X or Baby Boomer code," he said.
He likened the movement to adaptive software that constantly evolves in response to changing circumstances.
"Their software is nimble, rewriting itself daily to survive adversity, but ultimately it aims to dominate," Waita said.
The remarks come two years after the Gen Z-led protests that erupted across Kenya in opposition to the Finance Bill, 2024, demonstrations that evolved into broader calls for accountability, good governance and an end to corruption.
The largely youth-driven movement, organised primarily through social media and without formal political leadership, reshaped the country's political discourse and challenged conventional methods of mobilisation.
Waita urged political leaders to engage young people meaningfully rather than attempt to control or co-opt the movement.
"Better bring them to the proverbial table early before they remove it entirely," he said.
His comments add to the growing debate on the role of Kenya's youthful population in shaping national policy and governance, with analysts increasingly pointing to Gen Z's demographic strength, digital influence and political awareness as factors that are likely to redefine the country's leadership landscape in the years ahead.