‘I welcome youth activism and democracy’: Finland President Stubb commends Kenya’s Gen Z protests

Finland President Alexander Stubb has hailed the historical Kenyan Gen Z movement witnessed in June last year during the anti-government protests, saying it was a momentous display of democracy.

The Finnish president, who is on a three-day State visit to Kenya, spoke in an exclusive interview with Citizen TV and said that the demonstrations, which elicited mixed reactions across the globe, showcased the country as a symbol of free speech.

He embraced the actions of the youth, underscoring the use of technology in activism as he compared Kenya’s demographic population, consisting mainly of the young, to Finland, where the elderly are the majority.

“I think that June 25 became a symbol in many ways, and mainly because of the youth movement. I had the opportunity to speak with a number of NGOs, including leaders from the youth movement. So I have a pretty good picture of how they saw things, and we also discussed this matter with President (William) Ruto and got a picture of how he saw this thing,” he said.

“If I may, sort of, commend Kenya for trying to solve issues that were related around June 25th…I think Liberal Democracy hasn’t adapted to modern technology since it was created in the 1700s, when everything was supposed to be very slow and cumbersome, and now we live in a technological world where direct democracy is much easier, and every country is going through different phases on how to grapple with it. Your demographic curve is probably different from the older demographic curve in Finland.  I welcome the type of youth activism, democracy that I see in Kenya when I look at it from afar.”

President Stubb highlighted the tenets of any liberal democracy, stressing the need for the rule of law, urging the country to ensure that the latter is upheld for easy governance.

He, at the same time, warned of a current paradigm shift in governance, asserting that democratic violations are in modern times witnessed even in the perceived democratic nations such as in Europe and America, where protesters have been heavily clamped down.

“Liberal democracy is not an end state, it is something that you have to work out and nurture at all times. It has a few basic tenets: elections, judiciary, separation between Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, rule of law, strong institutions, freedom of speech, free media and free civil society,” he noted.

“But there are now liberal democracies around the world in Europe, North America which are putting limits to the basic freedoms…what basic democracies is all about…and so we have to be very careful with those things and make sure they don’t happen.”