The year that was: Re-defined politics, Gen-Z movement, and the birth of a woke nation

Kenya bears an indelible memory of the unforeseen events that came with the year 2024 as citizens witnessed major tragedies and the political landscape also took a seemingly eternal turn.

A myriad of national disasters claimed the lives of many, among them young learners, and destroyed property worth millions.

President William Ruto’s government also turned into the public’s enemy as questions on integrity and competence took center stage, shifting the legislative modus operandi in the nation.

Here is a chronological breakdown of some of the events witnessed in 2024.

In April, the Meteorological Department released a seven-day forecast, warning that most parts of the nation will experience torrential rains with thunderstorms.

As intense rainfall fell in different parts of the nation, the Kenya Red Cross among other response teams swung into action rescuing residents and livestock across the county.

This weather anomaly was also being experienced across the globe as nations in Europe and the UAE were rocked with heavy downpours.

By April 23, the floods had claimed 38 lives and displaced over 110,000 Kenyans. Major rivers and dams had broken their banks, washing away nearby ecosystems.

Areas of Mathare, Mukuru Utawala, Kamukunji and Ruai in Nairobi County had been severely affected, forcing residents to spend nights on their roofs. This was similarly experienced in all counties.

As the death toll spiked and amid rising uproar, President Ruto was forced to convene a special Cabinet meeting to mitigate the worsening disaster.

On April 29, a more severe case was witnessed in Mai Mahiu where the swelling waters of River Tongi were blocked by a railway line tunnel preventing proper flow, forcefully streaming downstream and killing over 61 people and some bodies remained missing.

This was confirmed by former Water Cabinet Secretary (CS) Zechariah Njeru, noting that the channel got blocked due to debris, stones, trees and soil brought about by the heavy downpour.

By May 8, the nationwide death toll had risen to 257 as government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura added that 188 people were injured, while a further 293, 661 were affected and 54,837 households displaced.

The government’s poor response sparked outrage among many Kenyans as many argued that the disaster could have been mitigated early enough.

The killer floods affected over 150 schools, crippling timely reopening as the government advised school heads in affected areas to admit learners without school fees or uniforms.

Similarly, the government set up and emergency desk at Nyayo House to replace IDs, and passports lost in floods as it received a Ksh.2 billion donation from the UAE to mitigate the disaster.

Leaders allied to the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party faulted the government's response to the crisis as Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his DAP-K counterpart Eugene Wamalwa said the government was casually handling the situation.

The Azimio co-principals said the State has the potential to mitigate and help those affected by floods but they instead appear reluctant and unaware of how to go about it.

What followed was the proposed Finance Bill 2024 which sought to raise taxes to an all-time high, affecting every Kenyan.

This was on the backdrop of President Ruto’s promises that he would permanently transform the nation into an economic hub. This included, among many things, raising tax rates and providing a friendly environment to conduct business.

As soon as the proposal was tabled in Parliament in June, Kenyans and leaders in opposition declared an all-out war on the Bill, arguing that the intolerable taxes were not welcome.

Warnings from insurers, aviators, farmers and even telecommunication giant Safaricom indicated that the proposed tax increments would be bad for the already frail economy.

It sought to amend a number of legislations among them the Affordable Housing Act, the Industrial Training Act, the Data Protection Act, the Public Finance Management Act, and the Kenya Revenue Authority Act.

The Bill also sought to impose deductions on basic commodities like bread, milk, vegetable oils and similarly affect the motor vehicle and telecommunications sectors.

Amid heaping uproar, a silent giant, social media, seemingly braved the shadows and became the main tool for disseminating civic education on the detriments the Bill harboured.

This included activists and social media users spreading broken down details on most of the critical clauses which posed a threat to the economy.

This even prompted the creation of a tool based on the popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT to help Kenyans understand the unsavory Finance Bill 2024.

Dubbed ‘FinanceBill GPT’, the chatbot was created by Kelvin Onkundi and worked similarly to how OpenAI’s ChatGPT operates; taking questions and generating text-based responses on questions around the Bill.

Through the social media’s erudite innovations, users started sharing phone numbers belonging to President Ruto and Members of Parliament (MPs) in a bid to persuade them to shoot down the Bill during voting in Parliament.

The efforts turned futile because the Bill was still tabled before the House after a contentious public participation exercise, forcing a number of youths to take the streets to protests the unsavory proposed taxes.

The protests dubbed “Occupy Parliament” kicked off on June 18 in Nairobi as the government attempted to drop a raft of controversial proposals contained in the Bill.

This was however not up to scratch as protesters maintained that they will still take the streets, arguing that the select dropped proposals merely addressed the public outcry.

Despite efforts to reach parliament being thwarted by anti-terror officers, public uproar ballooned overnight as more Kenyans ridiculed the government.

Calls for the Bill’s total rejection spread across the nation as other counties took to the streets on June 20.

The Bill passed its second reading in Parliament despite calls from Kenyans to reject it, prompting a call to occupy Parliament on June 25, when the final voting would take place.

Legislators seemed oblivious to the sheer force the protests bore as Ruto’s economic adviser David Ndii fired back at Gen Zs who staged demonstrations against the Bill 2024, calling them clueless and cannot force a revolution.

“Irony of these cool kids protesting Finance Bill they are clueless about is many are children of the plunderers who’ve bankrupted the State, the tenderpreneurs, the #KenyattaCronyCapitalismStateCapture and corruption cartels I’ve been battling since before they were born,” he said on X.

Tensions kept on rising as protesters across the nation too the streets and some were shot dead. President Ruto remained defiant on heeding the public’s call and maintained that the Bill would become law.

On June 25, the day Parliament was invaded, legislators made haste to pass the Bill while protesters marched on towards the House amid running battles with police officers.

At around 2:30pm, several young protesters were shot dead outside Parliament buildings as officers did not shy away from using live bullets as opposed to using teargas.

After 24 hours of public distraught, and President Ruto maintaining that the protests were infiltrated by “criminals” and there was need to deploy the KDF on the streets, he caved in and refused to sign the Bill.

He vowed to engage the public in further consultations to amend the unwanted Bill. The Bill was later, on July 25, totally rejected in Parliament as MPs deleted all proposed clauses.

President Ruto later distanced himself from the deaths of the many young people killed during the protests, maintaining that “there is no blood on my hands”.

Kenyan human rights commissions reported that 50 protesters were killed by police officers during the protests and 413 injured.

The government resulted to continue using the Finance Act 2023, noting that it was forced to slash its budget by Ksh.177B and borrow Ksh.169B to offset Ksh.346B Finance Bill setback.

To buy public trust, President Ruto even reshuffled his cabinet and appointed new CSs whom he believed will help him transform the nation and streamline matters raised by Kenyans.

The political landscape was significantly altered as politicians remained on high alert as citizens continued using social media to censure any leader dragging their feet.

This also fronted calls for discouraging leaders from politicking on pulpits which saw leaders being heckled off church podiums.

This even caused a tiff between the clergy and the government as calls for right leadership emanated from the sacred buildings.

During the Finance Bill 2024 uproar, the Holy Family Basilica and the Catholic Church at large called on Kenyans to voice their concerns about the unsavoury Bill, terming it oppressive and endorsing calls for its rejection.

Following the deadly June 25 protests, when Parliament was invaded, the PCEA Township Church Kitengela stopped its services and held a two-minute silence to honour the two young men who died during the protests.

The calls for vigilance, sobriety and integrity in governance slowly started swelling as many churches started censuring the state for poor leadership.

This has even been supported by Law professor and activist Patrick Lumumba who termed the Kenyan Catholic and Anglican churches’ criticism of the government and public refusal of politicians’ donations “heartening.”

“The concatenation of events as outlined is heartening,” Prof Lumumba said in a letter to the KCCB Chairman Maurice Makumba and ACK's Archbishop Sapit.

The tiff ensued until November 17, 2024, when the Archdiocese of Nairobi returned Ksh.2.8million donated by President Ruto and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.

The Archdiocese rejected the money made at Soweto Catholic Church, saying that the rejection aligns with Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) directives and the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill 2024.

The government has however maintained that it will work with willing church leaders, arguing that they play a cardinal role in providing counsel to the President.

The education and health sectors have been severely affected in 2024 as delayed salaries and benefits have crippled activities in most institutions.

In August, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) issued a warning to 11 counties over a possible strike due to delays in July and August salaries without any explanation.

KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah decried the outcome of the return-to-work formula they signed with both the county and the national government.

Concurrently, a nationwide teachers' strike commenced after last-minute negotiations between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) failed to yield a resolution. 

The teachers lamented the delayed pay and unresolved grievances that had been remained pending for months.

The move severely affected learners as some schools remained closed for over two weeks before the TSC revised the terms and teachers agreed to return to classes.

The crisis was however not over as university lecturers from public universities downed their tools on September 18, citing delays in finalizing the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the government. An inter-ministerial committee was subsequently formed to address the stalemate.

Eighteen days later, the strike was called off inking a return-to-work formula with the government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

Moi University students and lecturers however remained in limbo as the institution’s Vice Chancellor Isaac Kosgey announced the immediate closure of the university on October 3.

The cash-strapped university had been facing a series of financial challenges that led to a staff industrial action.

The University Council, however, said that it was holding consultations with key stakeholders to ensure the long-term stability of the institution. 

Some of the university dons have been probed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for allegedly embezzling billions of funds from the institution.

Social Health Authority

On October 1, the government announced the official transition from the 58-year-old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the new and unwelcome Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

The government stated that the scheme would streamline access to quality healthcare.

Despite a hazy scrutiny process, Parliament's Health Committee cleared the scheme, stating that its queries regarding the multi-billion health digitization project have been addressed.

The committee made this declaration after Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Deborah Barasa provided a blurry status update just hours before the October 1 rollout of SHA. 

MPs raised concerns regarding the means testing instrument, questioning the accuracy and criteria employed to establish the contributions expected from informal sector households.

What followed was a dire crisis for kidney dialysis patients who were denied access to health provision as all their NHIF cards were denied as hospitals demanded cash payments.

The government has however maintained that over 12 million Kenyans have registered to SHA and 1,442 hospitals have already signed their contracts.

President Ruto has however maintained that the healthcare system is flawed but has expressed optimism that the challenges Kenyans are facing with accessing healthcare will be ironed out.

Speaking during the 11th National and County Governments Coordinating Summit at State House, on December 16, Ruto said the challenges Kenyans are experiencing with the new healthcare scheme, which he recently rebranded as Taifa Care, are due to its “scale and ambition.”

Taifa Care, Ruto said, “is overcoming technological and operational challenges to ensure that every citizen, regardless of status or means, has access to quality, affordable healthcare.”